According to a study led by US National Institutes of Health (NIH), early administration of convalescent plasma seems not to prevent disease progression in a high-risk group of COVID-19 patients.

The study was started in August 2020 and was stopped in February this year because of a lack of efficacy based on a planned interim analysis. The final study was published online in The New England Journal of Medicine. The trial included adult outpatients presenting to 48 emergency departments with mild COVID-19 during their first week post-infection in the US. Participants were randomized to receive treatment with either high-titre COVID-19 convalescent plasma or placebo. Among the 511 participants, 30% had disease progression in the plasma therapy group compared to 31.9% in the placebo group. The researchers noted that the plasma intervention did not lead to any harm… (ET Healthworld – IANS, August 20, 2021)