A study of the first 20,000 adults hospitalized with severe or life-threatening COVID-19 to receive convalescent plasma found the investigational therapy safe in this diverse group of patients, according to findings from the Food and Drug Administration’s Expanded Access Program for COVID-19 reported in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

The mortality rate in the first seven days after transfusion was 8.6%, down from 12% in an earlier study of the first 5,000 patients, and serious adverse events remained low at less than 1%, the authors said.

“Given the accelerating deployment of this therapy, these emerging data provide early safety indicators of convalescent plasma for COVID-19 treatment and suggest research should shift focus from safety toward determining the efficacy of convalescent plasma,” they said.  

Related News Articles

Headline
The Food and Drug Administration yesterday announced that Olympus issued a global recall of its ViziShot 2 FLEX needles manufactured prior to May 12 following…
Headline
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices Sept. 19 recommended that patients should consult their health care provider if they want to receive a COVID-…
Headline
The Department of Health and Human Services Sept. 18 announced it will take new actions to help improve care for individuals with long COVID. They include a…
Headline
The Food and Drug Administration has identified a Class I recall for Mo-Vis BVBA R-net Joysticks due to a firmware error that causes the wheelchair to ignore…
Headline
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is predicting a similar combined number of peak hospitalizations from COVID-19, the flu and respiratory…
Headline
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration today announced a 60-day extension of the comment period on its proposed rule to remove the remaining…