FBFAN40

Well it was just an idea, as I said naive, or optimistic, but there have been developments today: Here is the FDA's new PSA asking for Plasma donations from COVID19 patients who have recovered. (Note it says you need a laboratory COVID19 diagnosis, but looking into this a plasma antibody test counts a laboratory diagnosis, and that test costs $160 which if student athletes are asked to VOLUNTEER the donation for NO COMPENSATION the lab/health department should pay) https://www.fda.gov/emergency-preparedness-and-response/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19/donate-covid-19-plasma Also John's Hopkins just got $35 Million dollars to start testing Plasma on an out patient basis. Which is good news, if this works, and there is a stockpile of Plasma available, there would be no reason to shut down fall, winter or spring sports. No reason to cancel school, and the sooner the economy could open full steam if we knew there was enough plasma stockpiled. It really would be about how its presented to everyone. IMO. https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2020/07/30/johns-hopkins-funding-for-coronavirus-blood-plasma-trials/

This may be naive, but isn't it about time we change the narrative on teenagers and COVID-19?As the FDA moves closer to approving using plasma as the first approved treatment to treat COVID19, I think it may be time we start looking to teenagers not just as those that don't show symptoms and may be a source of infection to our older citizens, but instead consider our teenage athletes (typically some of the healthiest of our community) may be our saving grace? Instead of wondering if we should cancel schools and cancel sports we use our varsity level athletes (Juniors and Seniors and college) as control groups in our communities. We should be discussing if we could request schools ask their Varsity Juniors and Seniors to volunteer for COVID antibody testing (not COVID testing) using travelling nurse services at their schools. Finding this data in a controlled way in each community will give us a better idea of the infection rate/recovery for each area as it can be assumed that if the teen has the antibodies, the entire household had likely been infected and recovered. Then we ask those 16,17,18 year olds with the antibodies and robust immune systems to consider donating plasma with parent's consent to be collected at local hospitals for treatment usage. Similar to how we do senior blood drives across the state? I understand that medically speaking, prevention is always the best solution. But the reality is that prevention is not working so as we get closer and closer to flu season, we need to consider what we know, what resources we have to combat infection and really consider if mother nature just may have given us our own solution right in our own back yards? Thoughts?