When Chilean doctors Raimundo Gacitua and Carolina Selman Bravo learned about a promising COVID-19 treatment from Chinese medical teams this spring, they saw hope for their overwhelmed hospitals. Their weapon? Plasma from recovered patients – a #ThrowbackScience approach gaining new relevance in the pandemic era.
The duo from Santiago's Arturo Lopez Perez Foundation launched their plasma project in March, inspired by early success stories from the Chinese mainland. With no vaccines or lab-made antibodies available, they appealed for donors. They expected 100 volunteers – but got 450 🎉!
'It's like people suddenly remembered how to be heroes,' said Selman Bravo. One such hero is Luis Eduardo Salas, who donated plasma immediately after recovering. 'How could I say no?' he told reporters.
While researchers caution this isn't a silver bullet, preliminary data shows promise. Could this cross-continental medical teamwork write a new chapter in pandemic history? The world's watching. 👩⚕️🌍👨⚕️
