Donating Plasma for Covid

[aweitzm1]

I tested positive for the Covid anti-body test. Never even realized I have Covid-19 as I was asymptomatic. I would like to do my part and donate plasma. However, I am on Humira. Does any one know if being on Humira will eliminate me from donating?

My doctor is not certain what the criteria is for donating as he does not handle it. When I called the center and gave them the medication name she also was uncertain. I was wondering if anyone had experience with donating blood and plasma while taking biologics.

 

[xmdmom]

I found this https://www.plasmavie.ca/donner/medicaments/medicaments-g-h-i.en.html which says if you are taking humira regularly, you can't donate plasma.

 

[xmdmom]

My understanding is that there is a significant false positive rate, meaning that some people are positive when the person does not really have antibodies.

 

[crohnsinct]

^That. You can test positive even if you have had one of the other previous Covid Infections. Therefore to donate plasma it takes more screening. But I guess if Humira discredits you then it is a moot point

 

[aweitzm1]

Actually I spoke to the blood bank and they said Humira will not discredit me since I am in remission. I am waiting on a call to get more information. From what I am being told as long as you have an anti-body positive test you can go on to the next step. I will have to answer some medical questions and have a finger prick when I am on site. I also believe they will do some form of physical exam as well from what I read. If I can I would like to donate my plasma or blood. I know I still have to pass the other tests but at least Humira won't outright disqualify me.

Thanks all for the responses.

 

[crohnsinct]

Good luck! I hope you get to help!

I got sick with what they are almost certain was Covid but it was too early and there were no tests available for it. The tested me for flu and it was negative as well as a bunch of other things...all negative. Later got tested for antibodies but was told I couldn't donate plasma because I never had a positive Covid test and the rate of false positives on the antibody test was too high. Although, I think there are now more reliable antibody tests...not sure what company Roche maybe?

 

[aweitzm1]

Good luck! I hope you get to help!

I got sick with what they are almost certain was Covid but it was too early and there were no tests available for it. The tested me for flu and it was negative as well as a bunch of other things...all negative. Later got tested for antibodies but was told I couldn't donate plasma because I never had a positive Covid test and the rate of false positives on the antibody test was too high. Although, I think there are now more reliable antibody tests...not sure what company Roche maybe?

Thank you. I do not know what company they use. It went through my PCP and they sent it to Lapcorp that do the actual test. I was told there was 5-7% false positive accuracy. I asked if I should get tested again to re-confirm I actually have the anti-bodies but she said at this time it is not necessary as I still need to take all the same precautions as before. However, she did say new tests are being developed all the time and in a few months a new test with better accuracy can become available and it will be my decision to get re-tested.

Apparently I got tested for the IGG which according to the doctor is the most accurate one on the market at the moment.

There is so many different view points on this topic that it is hard to decide what is the right path to take.

 

[crohnsinct]

Oh! LabCorp uses the new Roche test and I read it is the most accurate right now.

yeah tell me about viewpoints. My doc said there was no need to get the test because it means nothing as they don’t even know if antibodies mean anything. But I work with the homeless and the county makes me get tested frequently for active infection and said I could stop the infection tests if I had antibodies. Funny how they believe having antibodies means something but my doc doesn’t. Either way I am just glad I can stop getting the virus testing.

 

[xmdmom]

The CDC says: "We do not know yet if having antibodies to the virus that causes COVID-19 can protect someone from getting infected again or, if they do, how long this protection might last." https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/testing/serology-overview.html

The false positive rate of the test can be very low (1%) but if the people being tested really have a low incidence of antibodies, the predictive value of a positive test will not be very good.

If you look at this calculator, and put in a prevalence of .02 (2%) and .99 for sensitivity and .99 for specificity, for any particular positive test result, the probability that it is a true positive is only 67%, and 33% would be really negatives. And most tests do not have a sensitivity or specificity that are so high.

 

[aweitzm1]

I agree. There is no way of knowing if I actually had Covid-19 or just a cold from the coronavirus family. I think I just need to get my head around it does not matter. Until they come out with a specific test just for Covid-19 I still need to take precautions.

I am just getting a lot of questions from family and it is frustrating when they tell me this does not sound right. How could I be positive. I don't have the answers and need to be ok with that.