By Kelly Young
Edited by Susan Sadoughi, MD, and André Sofair, MD, MPH
A small, preliminary case series in JAMA shows promise for using convalescent plasma to treat critically ill patients with novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Researchers in China treated five COVID-19 patients who required mechanical ventilation and had severe pneumonia and high viral load despite taking antivirals. Plasma donors had recovered from SARS-CoV-2 infection and had been symptom-free for at least 10 days. Recipients received 400 mL of convalescent plasma containing neutralizing antibody.
Within a day of the transfusion, markers of viral load began to improve. All patients saw gradual resolution of pulmonary lesions within 3 days. By day 9, four patients no longer required respiratory support. Three of the patients had been discharged after stays of roughly 50 days. The other two were still hospitalized.
The authors and editorialists note that the results need to be validated in clinical trials. Last week, the FDA allowed physicians to apply for emergency use of investigational convalescent plasma to treat individual patients
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