ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a respiratory disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. High mortality rate due to COVID-19 has become a serious health problem globally. At present, there is no definitive therapy for COVID-19. AIM: The objective of this study is to evaluate convalescent plasma therapy (CPT) in COVID-19 patients. METHODS: The study was conducted in prospective experimental design with sample population of COVID-19 inpatient in Dr. M. Djamil General Hospital, Padang, isolation ward. This study was involving 20 patients consisted of 10 patients of experimental group who received standard therapy and CPT and 10 patients of control group who received standard therapy only;10 males and 10 females. Differences in laboratory results in both groups were analyzed by T-test or Mann–Whitney U-test. RESULTS: Twenty subjects included in this study with average of age 56.50 (9.606) years. The mean of C-reactive protein (CRP) serum of the experimental group on day 1 (CRP +1) after CPT was 17.50 (25.343) while the control group was 77.50 (75.177) with p = 0.028 (p < 0.05). However, there were no differences in sequential organ failure assessment, hemoglobin, leukocyte, platelet, partial pressure of oxygen, D-dimer, procalcitonin, interleukin-6, lactate dehydrogenase, ferritin, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, urea, creatinine, glomerular filtration rate, bilirubin, cycle threshold values, and chest X-ray finding between both groups. CONCLUSION: There was a significant difference in CRP +1 between the experimental group and control group, while no significant differences found in other parameters between both groups. As CRP is an inflammatory indicator, CPT showed benefit in reducing inflammation in COVID-19 patient.