Table 2.

Summary of recent convalescent plasma cases

Pathogen	Year	Case summary (clinical)	Source of plasma	Dose and schedule	Outcome	Reference
Influenza H5N1	2006	Male presented 9 days after flu and pneumonia symptom onset, critically ill with multiorgan failure (lung, heart, renal), toxic hepatitis, upper GI bleeding, DIC, and lung infection with drug‐resistant bacteria.	Female survivor of H5N1 infection.	On Day 3 of hospital treatment, patient began receiving 100‐mL transfusions every 5‐10 hr (500 mL in total).	7‐16 days postinfusion, the virus became undetectable and the patient eventually fully recovered and was discharged.	Kong and Zhou 91 , *
	2006	31‐year‐old man presented with 4‐day history of fever, chills, and cough with clear sputum. Radiograph showed opacities in a lobe in left lung. Patient was unresponsive to 150 mg oseltamivir twice daily for unknown reasons.	Female survivor from previous H5N1 infection.	Three 200‐mL transfusions: 3 days since start of oseltamivir, 3 days 8 hr, and 4 days 8 hr.	More than 8 hr after transfusion, viral load was reduced from 1.68 × 105 to 1.42 × 104 copies/mL and to undetectable levels after 32 hr.	Zhou et al. 64 , *
	2007	52‐year‐old father of index case (who died) with underlying hypertension presented with fever, cough, and chills and took 75 mg of oseltamivir. The next morning, he was hospitalized with mild thrombocytopenia, and bilateral pneumonia. Received levofloxacin, corticosteroids, and additional oseltamivir. Rimantadine treatment commenced on Day 3. Disease progression caused patient to need positive pressure ventilation.	Female participant in an inactivated H5N1 vaccine trial (280 days past final inoculation).	On Day 7, the patient received two 200‐mL transfusions 4 hr apart.	Fever resolved after transfusion; a radiograph on Day 10 showed “improvement” in lung. Throat and stool samples showed viral RNA until Day 10. Patient was discharged by Day 22.	Wang et al. 63
	2005‐2008†	44‐year‐old female with ARDS and a history of bronchiectasis, had received 75 mg orally twice a day for 5 days. Oseltamivir on Days 8‐12.	Male H5N1 survivor.	200 mL daily for 3 days, beginning on Day 13.	Viral loads were not determined, but patient recovered and was discharged.	Yu et al. 62
SARS coronavirus	2005	80 patients that did not respond to ribavirin and prednisolone and experienced severe disease progression were transfused.	Between 600 and 900 mL of plasma was harvested from survivors and stored in approx. 200‐mL portions.	Patients were given between 160 and 640 mL plasma (280 on average) at different respective times, range 7 to 30 days (mean, 14 days).	Patients transfused earlier (<14 days) had better outcomes than patients transfused later (6% mortality vs. 22%, respectively, not controlling for other factors). No correlation between volume infused and clinical outcome.	Cheng et al. 67
	2005	Two health care workers and one lab technician infected with SARS were identified as candidates after ribavirin and methylprednisolone treatments failed.	Three individuals (including an index case) who survived SARS infection. Antibody titers (IgG) were >640.	2 mL/min (500 mL total) over 1 day. One patient also received 400 mg lopinavir and 100 mg ritonavir every 12 hr.	Reduction in fever and pulmonary infiltration after transfusion, viral loads of 495 × 103, 76 × 103, and 650 × 103 copies/mL, respectively (1 hr before transfusion) reduced to undetectable levels 24 hr after transfusion.	Yeh et al. 68

^* It is not clear from these two case reports if they represent the same patient.

^† Exact date of this patient's illness is not reported.

DIC = disseminated intravascular coagulation; GI = gastrointestinal.