Efficacy and safety of convalescent plasma administration in patients with COVID-19 infection

Abstract

Introduction: During the COVID-19 pandemic, several strategies were suggested for the management of the disease, including pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments such as convalescent plasma (CP). The use of CP was suggested due to the beneficial results shown in treating other viral diseases.

Objective: To determine the efficacy and safety of CP obtained from whole blood in patients with COVID-19.

Methods: Pilot clinical trial in patients with COVID-19 from a general hospital. The subjects were separated into three groups that received the transfusion of 400ml of CP (n=23) or 400ml of standard plasma (SP) (n=19) and a non-transfused group (NT) (n=37). Patients also received the standard available medical treatment for COVID-19. Subjects were followed up daily from admission to day 21.

Results: The CP did not improve the survival curve in moderate and severe variants of COVID-19, nor did it reduce the degree of severity of the disease evaluated with the COVID-19 WHO and SOFA clinical progression scale. No patient had a severe post-transfusion reaction to CP.

Conclusions: Treatment with CP does not reduce the mortality of patients even when its administration has a high degree of safety.

Keywords: COVID-19; Convalescent plasma; Efficacy; Eficacia; Plasma convaleciente; Safety; Seguridad; Supervivencia; Survival.