Potential benefits, mechanisms, and uncertainties of convalescent plasma therapy for COVID-19

Weiqian Dai; Haihui Gu; Sha Hao

doi:10.1097/BS9.0000000000000047

Potential benefits, mechanisms, and uncertainties of convalescent plasma therapy for COVID-19

Blood Sci. 2020 Jun 24;2(3):71-75. doi: 10.1097/BS9.0000000000000047. eCollection 2020 Jul.

Authors

Weiqian Dai¹, Haihui Gu², Sha Hao¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Experimental Hematology; Institute of Hematology and Blood Diseases Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Tianjin, China.
² Department of Transfusion Medicine, Changhai Hospital , The Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China.

Abstract

The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in China led to a public health emergency of international concern, putting all health organizations on high alert in the beginning of 2020. Corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is highly infectious and has resulted in thousands of deaths which exceeded that of the SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV) outbreak back in 2002 and 2003 in China. Besides, the number of diagnosed patients, patients who are suspected to have contracted the disease, and deaths are increasing worldwide. Unfortunately, effective drugs and vaccines to combat SARS-CoV-2 are still lacking. Convalescent plasma, a seemingly successful treatment for COVID-19 patients, proved to be of huge value in terms of saving severely ill patients. This review introduces the reported effects, potential mechanisms, and future uncertainties of convalescent plasma therapy in the treatment of COVID-19 patients, in the hopes that it will provide useful information for relevant physicians and researchers.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; adverse effects; convalescent plasma; mechanisms.

Publication types

Review