Treatment of Six COVID-19 Patients with Convalescent Plasma (preprint)

ABSTRACT

Objective The global mortality toll of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is rapidly increasing. Current antiviral therapy is insufficient, so it is crucial to develop new treatments. We assessed the efficacy of convalescent plasma transfusion for COVID-19 patients.Methods This retrospective, single-center study was conducted on six COVID-19 patients treated with convalescent plasma at Guizhou Provincial Jiangjunshan Hospital in China, from January 29 to April 30, 2020; the final follow-up data was collected on May 20, 2020. The efficacy of convalescent plasma was evaluated symptom relief and improvements in laboratory indicators and chest imaging abnormalities. Results Following treatment with convalescent plasma, the laboratory indicators and chest imaging examination of patients 1–3 changed from abnormal to normal. Regarding the relapsed patients (patients 4–6), two obtained negative severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test results on consecutive throat swabs after receiving convalescent plasma therapy (on days 24 and 3 for patients 4 and 6, respectively). Patient 5 received only one round of convalescent plasma transfusion; this patient’s laryngeal swab test results for SARS-CoV-2 have remained consistently positive so far.Conclusions The clinical conditions of six patients with COVID-19 improved following treatment with antiviral drugs and systemic corticosteroids combined with appropriate rounds of convalescent plasma therapy, indicating that infusion with convalescent plasma may be beneficial for patients with COVID-19.This study was registered in Chinese Clinical Trial Registry Center. (CCTR number ChiCTR 2000033056, registered 19 May 2020)