LAGRANGE, Ga. — At 9 weeks old, a baby from LaGrange became part of history and a case study of one.
Baby Tayria is the youngest patient to receive experimental convalescent plasma transfusion after she contracted COVID-19.
The treatment, which showed signs of helping infected people recover from the virus in some cases, stabilized her for life saving heart surgery.
Tayria was born with a heart defect and Down syndrome. She was in respiratory failure when a Life Flight helicopter brought her to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta's Heart Center at Egleston for surgery.
But the severity of the COVID-19 infection made heart surgery too risky. She was on a ventilator, despite getting remdesivir. That's when doctors tried plasma.
It was a success.
And, after many months recovering, Tayria is doing great. The outcome is encouraging – but this is only one case. Baby Tayria's story now will be part of ongoing research on how best to treat children and babies with COVID.