COVID treatment study included CT patients

Patients at two Connecticut hospitals took part in a 16-month study that showed plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients can be a useful tool to treat those infected with the virus.

Run by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, the study involved more than 1,100 patients nationwide, including some at both Norwalk and Danbury hospitals. Both hospitals are owned by Nuvance Health.

“This study started before vaccinations became available, and the only available treatment for COVID-19 at that time was for patients in the hospital,” MarieElena Cordisco, assistant vice president of clinical trials for Nuvance, said in a release. “These results showed that giving convalescent plasma within the first nine days of testing prevented hospitalization for COVID-19.”

Conducted between June 2020 and October 2021, patients were either given plasma from patients previously infected with COVID or a placebo. If administered within nine days after a positive test, the plasma reduced the need for hospitalization for more than half the study’s largely unvaccinated cohort.

According to study colead author Dr. David Sullivan, professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the findings suggest that hospitals should keep plasma on hand.

He said the therapy could be a useful tool against future coronavirus variants.

“Based on our findings and conclusions — which are now validated through the peer-review process — we encourage health care professionals to keep SARS-CoV-2 antibody-rich blood plasma available in their blood banks as part of the treatment arsenal against early-stage COVID-19, for future surges with variants,” Sullivan said.

Arnulfo Franco / Associated Press In this photo from May 13, 2020, a recovered COVID-19 patient donates blood products, known as convalescent plasma, at the Arnulfo Arias Madrid Hospital, in Panama City. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the use of blood plasma for what’s called emergency use during the coronavirus pandemic, but the World Health Organization on Aug. 24, 2020, cautioned that using blood plasma from COVID-19 survivors to treat other patients is still considered an experimental therapy.