SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, March 31, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — Early treatment of newly diagnosed COVID-19 patients with plasma from recovered patients cuts the need for hospitalization by more than half.
That’s according to a nationwide clinical trial by researches including those at University of Utah Health.
The study, led by scientists at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, provides evidence that plasma from convalescent patients should be part of the treatment arsenal for the disease and other emerging viral threats.
That’s because the plasma contains high levels of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, says a statement from University of Utah Health.
The study appears in the New England Journal of Medicine.
“In theory, if you collect plasma from donors who have recovered from omicron or another new variant, they will likely have plenty of antibodies for that variant,” said Emily Spivak, MD, MHS, a co-author of the study and an associate professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at U of U Health.
“As a result, convalescent plasma is theoretically more adaptable and may deal with new variants faster than other treatments currently available.”
Method
During the outpatient study, conducted between June 2020 and October 2021, the researchers randomly treated 1,181 patients with either plasma containing SARS-CoV-2 antibodies taken from people who had recovered from the disease or a placebo plasma that contained no SARS-CoV-2 antibodies.
Patients were aged 18 or older and had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in the previous eight days.
Of the 592 patients who received convalescent plasma, only 17 (2.9%) required hospitalization within 28 days of transfusion. In contrast, 37 of 589 patients (6.3%) who were given the placebo plasma were hospitalized within a month.
Overall, the findings translated into a 54% reduction in the relative risk of hospitalization for those who received convalescent plasma, the U of U Health statement says.
The researchers conclude that convalescent plasma is a viable early treatment for COVID-19 that has the advantages of being low-cost and widely available, particularly in countries with little or no access to vaccines and other treatments such as monoclonal antibodies.
Since each person who recovers from a variant of COVID-19 produces antibodies that subdue that specific virus, convalescent plasma treatment can potentially keep new strains of SARS-CoV-2 in check, the statement says.
