Blood plasma of recovered coronavirus patients fails to reduce deaths, study finds

The study conducted in India concluded that ‘convalescent plasma showed limited effectiveness’ in helping hospitalised patients fight off the infection

The therapy was first tried against diphtheria in 1892 and was shown to help speed recovery from Ebola and Sars

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A patient who recovered from Covid-19 donates his blood plasma in Cairo, Egypt. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 9:08am, 23 Oct 2020Updated: 9:07am, 23 Oct 2020

Plasma taken from the blood of people who have recovered from Covid-19 and given to people sick with the disease does not reduce their chances of getting seriously ill or dying, new research has found.

The findings are from one of the first clinical trials to report the effects of convalescent plasma, which has been given emergency approval in countries including India and the US.

As a potential treatment for patients with moderate Covid-19, particularly in places where laboratory capacity is limited, the study conducted across India and published in the British Medical Journal on Friday concluded that “convalescent plasma showed limited effectiveness”.

But the researchers said future studies could explore using only plasma with high levels of neutralising antibodies to see if this might be more effective.

With few useful treatments and no cure or vaccine, nations are scrambling to find ways to blunt the severity of the new coronavirus.