The impact of convalescent (Immune) plasma treatment on the clinical course of covid-19

COVID-19 is a major pandemic currently spreading worldwide There is no specific method for its treat-ment The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of convalescent plasma in the treatment of COVID-19 and to compare it with patients not receiving plasma therapy Between March-May 2020, 21 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 who received convalescent plasma therapy were investigated For the control group, data of patients with similar clinical characteristics who did not receive plasma therapy were recorded Plasma receivers received convalescent plasma treatment from donors infected and healed with the SARS-Cov-2 virus Demographic data, laboratory parameters, oxygen saturations and SOFA scores were evaluated In addition, the clinical outcomes on mortality and length of hospital stay were compared The mean age of patients was 64 90±19 12 After convalescent plasma treatment, a significant decrease was detected in the respiratory rate, leukocyte count, ferritin, CRP, procalcitonin, lactate and sedimentation values It was found that patients who received plasma demonstrated shorter length of hospital stay (P = 0 045), less worsened oxygen status/ex status (P = 0 043) compared to control patients This study demonstrates that convalescent plasma therapy is well tolerated and can improve the clinical and laboratory results by neutralizing viremia in COVID-19 patients Further larger prospective studies are needed to better assess the impact of convalescent plasma