At the end of the 19th century, Emil von Behring (figure 1) demonstrated that serum from horses infected with diphtheria or tetanus was useful in treating people affected by these diseases, inaugurating passive immunisation as a new therapeutic strategy. He received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1901. This finding opened the door to the use of plasma from convalescent patients to treat infectious diseases; and throughout history, convalescent plasma has been used to treat many diseases, such as Spanish influenza, poliomyelitis, Korean haemorrhagic fever and, more recently, Ebola virus disease and influenza A (influenza H1N1 virus).

19 世纪末，埃米尔·冯·贝林（Emil von Behring）（图 1）证明，感染白喉或破伤风的马的血清可用于治疗受这些疾病影响的人，开创了被动免疫作为一种新的治疗策略。 1901年，他获得了诺贝尔生理学或医学奖。这一发现为利用恢复期患者的血浆治疗传染病打开了大门；纵观历史，恢复期血浆已被用于治疗许多疾病，例如西班牙流感、脊髓灰质炎、韩国出血热，以及最近的埃博拉病毒病和甲型流感（H1N1 流感病毒）。