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Convalescent plasma was found to be safe and effective in 14 of the first 25 (76%) severe COVID-19 patients Peer-reviewed research Of treatment in the United States.
Treatments that include injecting plasma from patients who have recovered from COVID-19 and developed antibodies to patients have been used to treat serious microbial infections for over 100 years with varying success. I will.
Research Results by Dr. Eric Salazar, MD, Department of Pathology and Genomic Medicine, Houston Methodist Hospital, Texas, May 26 American Journal of Pathology..
Observational studies were conducted at the Houston Methodist from March 28th to April 28th. Patients were eligible for infusion if they had severe and/or life-threatening COVID-19 disease. Participants aged 19 to 77 years (median, 51 years, quartile range, 42.5 to 60 years) received a single transfusion of 300 mL of convalescent plasma.
Safety was the main result. The 14th day after transfusion was a secondary outcome. Clinical improvement was assessed on a modified World Health Organization scale and scale.
Researchers found that nine patients showed at least a 1-point improvement in clinical status seven days after transfusion. Seven of those patients were discharged. By day 14, 19 patients (76%) had at least one improvement and 11 were discharged.
Salazar said Medscape Medical News He was happy to see that the potential problems with blood transfusion did not occur in this study. For potential problems, from mild reaction Anaphylaxis, Fluid overload, and transfusion-related acute lung injury.
Safety findings are consistent and consistent with other findings, including the Mayo Clinic Extended Access Protocol. The survey results are Release In an article on the preprint server medRxiv. In that study of 5,000 patients, the treatment appeared safe.
“It seems quite acceptable,” he said.
In addition, the authors write: “The patient outcomes in this study are similar to those recently published for the treatment-based treatment of COVID-19 patients with lemdesibir.”
Possible, but still need RCT
Salazar’s team and others are currently working on answering other questions, such as how much plasma COVID-19 patients need and how much they need to administer. Other questions are, when is the most effective treatment for the disease, is it too late at that time, and whether it should be used as a prophylaxis or after exposure.
“The other very important question is which titer in the unit is the most effective,” he said.
What Salazar knows is that those who have recovered from COVID-19 are eager to donate others.
“There’s been a great deal of support from the Houston community from patients who have recovered from COVID-19, which is very exciting,” he said. He said the amount of plasma taken from one donor would benefit two patients.
COVID-19 Extended access programTracks plasma donations and blood transfusions nationwide, headed by The Mayo Clinic. As of June 1, more than 18,500 injections have been made at nearly 2,400 sites in the United States.
Kailuanen, an associate professor at the Department of Pathology at the University of Colorado Denver, Medscape Medical News She encouraged the results of the Houston study, but said she expected positive results for safety. She said the strength of the study was that it was the first time that it met the peer review requirements.
“This study is more evidence to confirm our suspicion that convalescent plasma is safe and effective,” she said.
Annen, who is also the medical director of transfusion services at the Colorado Children’s Hospital, added that the question of antibody titers would be especially important if convalescent plasma proved to be effective in combating COVID-19. In addition, time may be important for collecting plasma.
“We don’t know how long the antibody stays, and not everyone creates the same titer level,” she said. If they do not last long, the supply decreases as fewer people become infected.
The problem is not just about donating enough recovery plasma, Annen said.
“It would also be of adequate quality-because the number of antibodies present in plasma has a desired level of effect,” she said.
Positive previous small case study
A small study in China on the use of convalescent plasma in the treatment of COVID-19 has not been peer-reviewed but has shown positive results. 1 Involved Five patients improved with plasma.
another Investigation Of the 10 critically ill patients, convalescent plasma improved clinical symptoms within 3 days, suggesting that the virus had cleared from the blood within 7 days.
The limitation of the current study is that without controls, it is unclear if 25 patients would have improved without treatment. Also, most patients have been treated with some other medication, so it is unclear what role plasma transfusion played in improving patients.
Convalescent plasma use has a long history dating back to the Spanish influenza Annen describes the 1918 pandemic. Tested during SARS, H1N1,and Ebola The pandemic, its effectiveness has not been clearly proven in large randomized controlled trials.
She said that so many centers are collecting and testing plasma use in COVID-19 patients, so scientists might be able to get the answer.
It is still unclear if the answer will be the same for other pandemics.
“I think if we can clearly prove that it is an effective treatment for COVID-19, we will only be able to jump faster against other viruses in the future,” she said.
Funding for the research was provided by the National Institutes of Health, the Fondren Foundation, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the Army Lab, the Houston Methodist Hospital, and the Houston Methodist Institute. The author and Annen do not disclose the financial relationship involved.
Marcia Frellick is a freelance journalist based in Chicago. She has previously contributed to the Chicago Tribune and Nurse.com and was the editor of the Chicago Sun Times, Cincinnati Enquirer and The St Cloud (Minnesota) Times. Follow her on Twitter @mfrellic..
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