Administration of convalescent plasma with high levels of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 within the first 3 days of symptoms was found to be associated with significantly lower likelihood of progression to severe COVID-19, suggests new research.

A study of 160 older adults with COVID-19 randomized half of the participants to receive plasma and half to receive placebo infusion. Treatment with high-titer plasma reduced the relative risk for severe disease by 48% in an intent-to-treat analysis. Senior author Fernando Polack stated that convalescent plasma with high titers of antibody against SARS-CoV-2 given in the first 3 days of mild symptoms to infected elderly patients decreased the progression of illness as well as the rate of severe presentations. The findings were published online January 6 in The New England Journal of Medicine… (Medscape)