HomeLifestyleHealth & FitnessCan Donor Plasma Therapy help speed recovery from severe COVID-19?

Can Donor Plasma Therapy help speed recovery from severe COVID-19?

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Using COVID-19 survivor blood plasma to treat severe coronavirus infection has sparked debate. But a new study reveals it has value.

The use of COVID-19 survivors’ donated blood plasma to treat patients suffering from severe coronavirus disease has sparked considerable debate. However, a modest new study reveals that it may have some validity.

According to the findings of a trial of 39 individuals with severe COVID-19 who were treated at a single New York City hospital, the therapy appeared to improve survival.

Plasma is a blood component that carries immune system antibodies. COVID-19 survivors’ “convalescent plasma” is high in antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, and it’s expected that infusing the plasma into COVID-19 sufferers could help them recover.

The US Food and Drug Administration granted emergency approval for the use of convalescent plasma for COVID-19 on August 23, despite a lack of efficacy evidence from randomized clinical trials.

These trials are now underway, but anecdotal data suggests that, at the very least, the therapy is safe, according to one specialist.

“I cannot think of one shred of data that I have seen that would suggest harm,” said Dr. Liise-anne Pirofski, chair of biomedical research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center, in New York City.

But, does convalescent plasma therapy actually help speed recovery from severe COVID-19??

To clarify this, a team lead by Dr Nicole Bouvier of Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City tracked the results of 39 COVID-19-infected individuals hospitalized. They were all very ill: by the time they had a donor plasma transfusion, 87 percent of these patients required supplemental oxygen to breathe and 10percent were on ventilators.

The outcomes of the 39 transfused patients were compared to those of 156 other COVID-19 patients who did not receive the experimental treatment but had similar symptoms and medical histories.

Bouvier’s group reported in the journal Nature Medicine that “convalescent plasma is effective against COVID-19.”

By day 14, 18percent of patients who received plasma therapy required oxygen support, compared to 28percent of those in the “control” group who did not receive the infusion.

By May, 13percent of patients who received convalescent plasma had died, compared to 24percent of those who did not, the study authors said.

However, because the study was not a big, randomized clinical trial, the findings are not conclusive, according to Bouvier’s group.

“Additional studies are needed to confirm these findings and draw more definitive conclusions about the efficacy of convalescent plasma transfusion for the treatment of COVID-19 in different populations,” the team concluded.

Pirofski agreed. “What I think everybody agrees on is the gaps of knowledge that exist can best be addressed by high-quality trials,” she said.

Image Credit: Getty

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