Convalescent plasma lowers death risk
Infusions of antibody-rich blood plasma from people who have recovered from the new coronavirus, known as convalescent plasma, can lower the risk of death for hospitalized Covid-19 patients, according to a pooled analysis of data from eight earlier studies of more than 700 hospitalized patients around the world. Researchers found that mortality rates were roughly 13% in patients who received convalescent plasma versus about 25% for those who did not get the treatment. Convalescent plasma was shown to be safe in an earlier study of 5,000 hospitalized adults with severe or life-threatening Covid-19. In that study, fewer than 1% of patients had any serious adverse effects in the first four hours after transfusion.
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