Use of convalescent plasma for the treatment of patients with severe COVID-19

• The plasma of people who have recovered from Covid-19 contains the antibodies that their body has developed. These antibodies could help patients in the acute phase of the disease fight the virus. This treatment has already proven effective, in small-scale studies, against other infectious diseases such as Ebola, Sars or avian flu. (1-3)
• In an uncontrolled Chinese study involving five patients with a severe form of Covid-19, the results of the administration of plasma from patients cured of the disease are described in the American journal « JAMA w». (4) The 5 patients received between the 10th and 20th days of their hospitalization plasma transfusions containing high titer IgG whose neutralizing activity was significant.
• Plasma transfusions allowed the temperature to normalize within three days in 4 out of 5 patients; ventilation parameters significantly improved and viral load became undetectable within 12 days. Performing ELISA tests showed an increase in neutralizing antibody titers. Four of the patients no longer suffered from acute respiratory distress syndrome.
• However, this is a non-randomized and small study. To confirm the effectiveness of this treatment, larger, randomized studies are needed. To this end, public assistance - Paris Hospitals (AP-HP) with the support of Inserm and the French Blood Establishment (EFS) promoted a Coviplasm clinical trial. This trial will recruit around sixty patients, half of whom will benefit from treatment with convalescent plasma. (5)
• In Tunisia, the director of the Pasteur Institute of Tunis, Prof. Hechmi Louzir launched, Wednesday April 15, 2020, a call for blood donations addressed to patients who have recovered from Covid-19, with the aim of studying the possibility to administer it to patients affected by the same virus. (6)

References :

• 1 - CHENG, Y., WONG, R., SOO, Y. O. Y., et al. Use of convalescent plasma therapy in SARS patients in Hong Kong. European Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, 2005, vol. 24:44-46.
• 2 - KRAFT, C.S., HEWLETT, A.L., KOEPSELL, S., et al. Nebraska Biocontainment U, The Emory Serious Communicable Diseases U, The Use of TKM-100802 and convalescent plasma in 2 patients with Ebola virus disease in the United States. Clin. Infect. Say, 2015.
• 3 - LEIDER, Jonathon P., BRUNKER, Patricia AR, and NESS, Paul M. Convalescent transfusion for pandemic influenza: preparing blood banks for a new plasma product?. Transfusion, 2010, vol. 50, no. 6, p. 1384-1398.
• 4 - SHEN, Chenguang, WANG, Zhaoqin, ZHAO, Fang, et al. Treatment of 5 critically ill patients with COVID-19 with convalescent plasma. Jama, 2020.
• 5 - INSERM, 2020, Coviplasm: testing the effectiveness of plasma transfusion from convalescent Covid-19 patients in the treatment of the disease [online]. [Accessed April 24, 2020].
• 6 - DIGITAL TUNISIA, 2020, Tunisia: The Director of the Pasteur Institute praises the effectiveness of blood plasma in the treatment of Covid-19. [Accessed April 24, 2020].