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Oxford University Press - PMC COVID-19 Collection logoLink to Oxford University Press - PMC COVID-19 Collection
. 2020 Apr 29:jiaa228. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiaa228

Effect of Convalescent Plasma Therapy on Viral Shedding and Survival in COVID-19 Patients

Qing-Lei Zeng 1,#,, Zu-Jiang Yu 1,#, Jian-Jun Gou 1,#, Guang-Ming Li 2,#, Shu-Huan Ma 2,#, Guo-Fan Zhang 3, Jiang-Hai Xu 4, Wan-Bao Lin 5, Guang-Lin Cui 6, Min-Min Zhang 2, Cheng Li 2, Ze-Shuai Wang 7, Zhi-Hao Zhang 1, Zhang-Suo Liu 1,
PMCID: PMC7197534  PMID: 32348485

Abstract

Currently, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been reported in almost all countries globally, and no effective therapy has been documented for COVID-19 and the role of convalescent plasma therapy is unknown. In current study, 6 COVID-19 subjects with respiratory failure received convalescent plasma at a median of 21.5 days after first detection of viral shedding, all tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 RNA by 3 days after infusion, and 5 died eventually. In conclusion, convalescent plasma treatment can discontinue SARS-CoV-2 shedding but cannot reduce mortality in critically end-stage COVID-19 patients, and treatment should be initiated earlier.

Keywords: Convalescent plasma therapy, Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Fatality, Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), Survival rate, Viral shedding


Articles from The Journal of Infectious Diseases are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

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