Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Latest
    • Archive
    • home
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Reviewers
    • Subscribers
    • Institutions
    • Advertisers
    • Join SMJ
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Editorial Office
    • Editorial Board
  • More
    • Advertising
    • Alerts
    • Feedback
    • Folders
    • Help
  • Other Publications
    • NeuroSciences Journal

User menu

  • My alerts
  • Log in

Search

  • Advanced search
Saudi Medical Journal
  • Other Publications
    • NeuroSciences Journal
  • My alerts
  • Log in
Saudi Medical Journal

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Latest
    • Archive
    • home
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Reviewers
    • Subscribers
    • Institutions
    • Advertisers
    • Join SMJ
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Editorial Office
    • Editorial Board
  • More
    • Advertising
    • Alerts
    • Feedback
    • Folders
    • Help
  • Follow psmmc on Twitter
  • Visit psmmc on Facebook
  • RSS
NewsThe Cochrane Library
Open Access

UPDATED COCHRANE LIVING REVIEW INVESTIGATES THE USE OF CONVALESCENT PLASMA TO TREAT PEOPLE WITH COVID -19

Saudi Medical Journal November 2020, 41 (11) 1273;
  • Article
  • eLetters
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF
Loading

12 OCTOBER 2020 - People who have recovered from COVID-19 develop natural defences to the disease in their blood (antibodies). Antibodies are found in part of the blood called plasma. Plasma from blood donated from recovered patients, which contains COVID-19 antibodies, can be used to make two preparations. Firstly, convalescent plasma, which is plasma that contains these antibodies. Secondly, hyperimmune immunoglobulin, which is more concentrated, and therefore contains more antibodies.

Convalescent plasma and hyperimmune immunoglobulin have been used successfully to treat other respiratory viruses. These treatments (given by a drip or injection) are generally well-tolerated, but unwanted effects can occur.

The review authors wanted to know whether plasma from people who have recovered from COVID-19 is an effective treatment for people with COVID-19, and whether this treatment causes any unwanted effects.

The authors searched major medical databases for clinical studies on treatment with convalescent plasma or hyperimmune immunoglobulin for people with COVID-19. Studies could be conducted anywhere in the world and include participants of any age, gender or ethnicity, with mild, moderate or severe COVID-19.

This is the first living update of this review. This review includes 19 completed studies, with 38,081 participants who received convalescent plasma.

Certainty (confidence) in the evidence is very limited because there were only two randomised studies and most studies did not use reliable methods to measure their results. Furthermore, participants received various treatments alongside convalescent plasma, and some had underlying health problems.

The authors are uncertain whether plasma from people who have recovered from COVID-19 is an effective treatment for people hospitalised with COVID-19. These findings could be related to the natural progression of disease, other treatments or to convalescent plasma. Our searches found 138 ongoing studies, of which 73 are randomised. This is the second update of this review.

Lead author, Sarah Valk from the Center for Clinical Transfusion Research at Sanquin Blood Supply in the Netherlands, says: “In summary, we remain very uncertain about the effectiveness and safety of using convalescent plasma for people with COVID-19. We are very uncertain whether or not convalescent plasma affects the number of serious harms. These findings could be related to the natural progression of the disease, other treatments that the participants received, or to convalescent plasma.”

“However, this field is changing rapidly. We identified approximately 98 ongoing studies, of which 50 are randomized trials. This the first living update of our review, and we will continue to updating this review periodically, as a ‘living systematic review’, so that it reflects the most current, available evidence.”

Full citation: Lise J Estcourt, Haematology/Transfusion Medicine, NHS Blood and Transplant, Oxford, UK. lise.estcourt{at}nhsbt.nhs.uk/lise.estcourt{at}ndcls.ox.ac.uk

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD013600.pub3

Copyright © 2020 The Cochrane Collaboration. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., reproduced with permission.

  • Copyright: © Saudi Medical Journal

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Saudi Medical Journal: 41 (11)
Saudi Medical Journal
Vol. 41, Issue 11
1 Nov 2020
  • Table of Contents
  • Cover (PDF)
  • Index by author
Print
Download PDF
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on Saudi Medical Journal.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
UPDATED COCHRANE LIVING REVIEW INVESTIGATES THE USE OF CONVALESCENT PLASMA TO TREAT PEOPLE WITH COVID -19
(Your Name) has sent you a message from Saudi Medical Journal
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the Saudi Medical Journal web site.
Citation Tools
UPDATED COCHRANE LIVING REVIEW INVESTIGATES THE USE OF CONVALESCENT PLASMA TO TREAT PEOPLE WITH COVID -19
Saudi Medical Journal Nov 2020, 41 (11) 1273;

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Share
UPDATED COCHRANE LIVING REVIEW INVESTIGATES THE USE OF CONVALESCENT PLASMA TO TREAT PEOPLE WITH COVID -19
Saudi Medical Journal Nov 2020, 41 (11) 1273;
Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One
Bookmark this article

Jump to section

  • Article
  • eLetters
  • References
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Global study assesses teen vaping
  • Is children’s reading ability affected by their sleep?
  • How have people’s daily activities affected mood during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Show more The Cochrane Library

Similar Articles

CONTENT

  • home

JOURNAL

  • home

AUTHORS

  • home
Saudi Medical Journal

© 2025 Saudi Medical Journal Saudi Medical Journal is copyright under the Berne Convention and the International Copyright Convention.  Saudi Medical Journal is an Open Access journal and articles published are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (CC BY-NC). Readers may copy, distribute, and display the work for non-commercial purposes with the proper citation of the original work. Electronic ISSN 1658-3175. Print ISSN 0379-5284.

Powered by HighWire