title: Organizing the Donation of Convalescent Plasma for a Therapeutic Clinical Trial on Ebola Virus Disease: The Experience in Guinea.
abstract: Although convalescent plasma (CP) transfusion was prioritized among potential Ebola treatments by the World Health Organization, there were concerns on the feasibility of its implementation. We report on the successful organization of donor mobilization and plasma collection as part of the Ebola-Tx clinical trial from November 2014 to July 2015 in Conakry, Guinea. Project implementation registers, tools and reports, mission reports, and minutes of research team meetings were used to reconstruct the sequence of events on how donor mobilization was organized, plasmapheresis was set up, and how effective this approach was in collecting CP. An initial needs assessment of the Guinean National Blood Transfusion Center resulted in targeted training of staff on site, resulting in autonomy and independent production of CP within 3 months. The Conakry Ebola Survivors Association played a direct role in donor mobilization and organization of CP donations. A total of 98 Ebola survivors were screened for plasma donation, of which 84 were found eligible for plasmapheresis. Of these, 26 (30.9%) were excluded. The remaining 58 donors made a total of 90 donations, corresponding to 50.9 L of CP. This sufficed to treat the 99 eligible patients enrolled in the trial. Within a poor resource emergency context, transfusion capacity could be rapidly improved through the strengthening of local capacities and gradual transfer of skills coupled with active involvement of Ebola survivors. However, large-scale plasma collection or multisite studies may require further adaptations of both strategy and logistics. The Ebola-Tx trial was funded by the European Union and others.
authors.affiliation: Centre National de Formation et de Recherche en Santé Rurale de Maferinyah, Forécariah, Guinea.|Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium.
authors.forename: Alexandre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Delamou
authors.affiliation: Centre National de Transfusion Sanguine, Conakry, Guinea.
authors.forename: Nyankoye Yves
authors.initials: NY
authors.lastname: Haba
authors.affiliation: Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium.
authors.forename: Almudena
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mari-Saez
authors.affiliation: Etablissement Français du Sang, La Plaine Stade de France, France.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gallian
authors.affiliation: Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium.
authors.forename: Maya
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ronse
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.|Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jacobs
authors.affiliation: Centre National de Transfusion Sanguine, Conakry, Guinea.
authors.forename: Bienvenu Salim
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Camara
authors.affiliation: Centre National de Transfusion Sanguine, Conakry, Guinea.
authors.forename: Kadio Jean-Jacques Olivier
authors.initials: KJO
authors.lastname: Kadio
authors.affiliation: Association des Personnes Guéries et Affectées d'Ebola en Guinée, Conakry, Guinea.
authors.forename: Achille
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Guemou
authors.affiliation: Association des Personnes Guéries et Affectées d'Ebola en Guinée, Conakry, Guinea.
authors.forename: Jean Pe
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Kolie
authors.affiliation: Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium.
authors.forename: Maaike De
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Crop
authors.affiliation: Etablissement Français du Sang Auvergne-Loire, France.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chavarin
authors.affiliation: Etablissement Français du Sang, La Plaine Stade de France, France.
authors.forename: Chantal
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jacquot
authors.affiliation: Etablissement Français du Sang Alpes-Méditerranée, France.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lazaygues
authors.affiliation: Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium.
authors.forename: Anja De
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Weggheleire
authors.affiliation: Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium.
authors.forename: Lutgarde
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lynen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium.
authors.forename: Johan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van Griensven
mesh_terms: D001782:Blood Donors; D001803:Blood Transfusion / Q000379:methods*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic / Q000458:organization & administration; D005260:Female; D016701:Guinea; D019142:Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola / Q000097:blood / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010956:Plasmapheresis / Q000379:methods; D017741:Survivors