Development of a COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Curriculum Amongst Students: An Initial Pilot Study

Abstract

Abstract Introduction/Objective Since December 2019, the World Health Organization has documented over 145 million COVID-19 infections with more than 3 million deaths worldwide. Considering this unprecedented pandemic, potential treatments including COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma (CP) received an emergency use authorization (EUA) for hospitalized patients from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in August 2020. CP is a form of passive immunization in which antibody-rich blood taken from recovered COVID-19 patients is used for transfusion into other patients. CP therapy is a temporary treatment that is meant to help hospitalized COVID-19 patients recover. Although there has been significant interest in CP, the peer-reviewed English literature is sparse on education initiatives on CP and appears absent regarding undergraduates and other students outside the laboratory or blood bank. Therefore, we present a first presentation of a pilot education initiative on CP for students. Methods/Case Report Information for the educational presentation was obtained from AABB guidelines, meta- analyses, and published clinical studies. Presented was a broad overview algorithm of when CP may be considered starting with symptomatic patients hospitalized with moderate to severe disease who have been diagnosed with COVID-19, including a brief review of the gold standard for COVID-19 diagnosis by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. As part of this pilot study, this presentation was given to a group of high school students. Results (if a Case Study enter NA) In this study, 22 high school students were briefly taught about convalescent plasma, including its use as a therapeutic agent to treat COVID-19. Before the presentation, 0 of the 22 students knew how CP was involved in COVID-19 or even what CP was. After the presentation, a survey was taken in order to learn about knowledge retention and after, all were understood CP’s general use in COVID-19. Therefore, this presentation improved knowledge on CP and was well accepted. Conclusion Educational initiatives on information related to CP have critical potential to improve the knowledge base of students. This presentation represents a pilot study for additional educational initiatives to improve the knowledge of CP amongst students.