Donating plasma is rewarding – donors go home knowing that they have made a difference in someone’s life. In addition to normal source plasma donation, many of our centers collect specialty plasma used to treat very specific conditions. Each of these specialty collection programs require certain qualifications and pay a bonus for every donation made. If you are interested in participating in any of the programs below, please speak with a BPL Plasma team member to learn more about how you can help create lifesaving treatments.
Locate a plasma donation center near you to join these specialty collection programs.
Hepatitis B is a serious and deadly virus that can infect people of all ages. If you’ve been previously vaccinated for Hepatitis B, you may qualify to be a donor for this program. The collected plasma is used to create a treatment that is very effective in preventing an exposed person from contracting Hepatitis B. This treatment is primarily used by first responders and other front-line medical workers who experience an incidental exposure to blood or body fluids (needle sticks, bites, scratches, etc.).
Although the World Health Organization declared Smallpox disease eradicated in 1980, the potential threat of the virus still exists. Our program helps ensure a treatment is available as part of the US Government’s Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) if this threat is realized. We are looking for donors previously vaccinated for Smallpox to join this program to treat people with adverse reactions to the vaccine.
Influenza is a common viral infection that can be fatal, especially for high-risk groups including young children, older adults, pregnant women, people with chronic diseases, or those with a weakened immune system. We collect plasma from donors who recently received a flu shot, recovered from flu-like symptoms, or were exposed to someone with the flu. This plasma is used to create an immune globulin that can potentially treat at risk individuals.
Varicella Zoster Virus (VZV) causes chickenpox and shingles, a painful rash that develops on one side of the face or body. If you’ve been recently been exposed to someone who has chickenpox or have been vaccinated for shingles, you may qualify for our program and earn a bonus. We collect VZV antibodies found in the plasma of donors to produce VZV immune globulin which is used to protect at-risk people who are exposed to the virus.
If you’ve been vaccinated against Anthrax, your plasma donation could help create an Anthrax immune globulin, an antibody-based medication used to treat people fighting an Anthrax infection.
How Does My Donation Help?
The antibodies in your plasma are used to produce immune globulin, which helps treat people who are ill from the disease, or in some cases, to treat people who experience an adverse reaction to the vaccine.
