
Blood plasma from people recovering from COVID-19 could help prevent severe illness in older patients newly infected with the virus, a small new Argentinian study finds. The findings give new hope to the notion that so-called “convalescent plasma” might have a role to play in treating COVID-19. Earlier studies had been disappointing, showing the treatment had little effect on people with severe, advanced cases of COVID-19. But the new trial of 160 patients was conducted in people infected with the new coronavirus who were not yet sick enough to require hospital care. Patients averaged 77 years of age. In the trial, 80 patients received plasma and 80 received a placebo treatment. According to the study authors, “severe respiratory disease developed in 13 of 80 patients (16%) who received convalescent plasma and 25 of 80 patients (31%) who received placebo.” In other words, the treatment cut in half the likelihood that a patient would go on to require supplemental oxygen to help them breathe, the authors said. But there were two key factors critical for donor plasma to be effective in curbing illness: It had to be given within 72 hours of the onset of symptoms, and the plasma must have a high concentration of disease-fighting antibodies. In the study, about 28% of volunteers who’d recovered from COVID-19 and donated their plasma had achieved the high… read on > read on >