SHREVEPORT - Officials say a critically ill COVID-19 patient at Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport Academic Medical Center is being treated with the first convalescent plasma therapy in Louisiana.

A spokesperson for the health center said the plasma being used was donated at LifeShare Blood Center just hours before the treatment began Saturday. Both individuals who donated plasma at LifeShare are fully recovered from COVID-19. 

“LifeShare is among the first centers in the country to partner with regional hospitals to provide this type of therapy for COVID-19 patients,” LifeShare Medical Director Dr. Tim Peterson said in a statement.

The FDA recently released new guidelines allowing health providers to test out the treatment. The covalescent plasma needed for the treatment can only from those who recovered from the virus. The plasma can only be donated in the two weeks after recovering from the virus, after the body has produced antibodies to help fight the infection.

Though it is being tested, convalescent plasma has yet to be definitively shown to be effective in COVID-19.

You can find more details on LSU Health Shreveport's use of the treatment here: https://www.lsuhs.edu/coronavirus/about-covid-19