COVID-19 plasma treatments are safe, large study finds
In a new study of 20,000 patients hospitalized with severe cases of COVID-19, researchers examined the safety of treatment with plasma donated from survivors.
The results, published Thursday, showed that less than 1% of patients experienced negative effects seven days after receiving plasma, suggesting that plasma is a safe treatment option.
Plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients has emerged as a possible treatment for the disease. The idea is that survivors’ plasma should contain virus-fighting antibodies, which, when injected into patients’ veins, should help their bodies fight off the infection.
Though smaller studies and anecdotal evidence has suggested that plasma treatments are safe, this study’s large size and more diverse collection of patients — nearly 40% of the patients were women; 20% were Black, 35% Hispanic and 5% Asian — provides stronger evidence of safety. The study was published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
“The study shows a decent representation of minorities,” said William Hartman, an assistant professor of anesthesiology at UW Health. “That’s an important point given that the minority communities have been hit so, so hard by COVID-19.”
Hartman is leading survivor plasma trials at the University of WisconsinMadison. He was not involved with this study.
Some of the negative effects observed during the study include allergic reactions, fluid build-up in lungs, blood clots and death. The overall number of these negative effects were low, however, and not all were thought to be related to the plasma treatment.
The study includes data from an initial report of 5,000 patients that was published online on May 14. Since that original study, an additional 15,000 patients have been treated with survivor plasma through an expanded access program that collects and distributes survivor plasma across the country. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration runs this program.
Though the current study was not designed to see how effective survivor plasma treatments are, researchers observed that fewer patients died in this study compared to the earlier study with 5,000 patients.
The study does not show the transfusions can cure people of COVID-19.