Houston Chronicle by Todd Ackerman May 13, 2020
Houston Methodist study reports plasma therapy safe, helped three-fourths of patients
More than three quarters of 25 critically ill Houston Methodist COVID-19 patients improved after receiving blood plasma from people who have recovered from the disease, according to the first U.S. study to be published on the century-old therapy’s use against the deadly pandemic.
A preliminary report by the Methodist research team found no adverse side effects and concluded that what’s known as convalescent serum therapy is a safe treatment option for patients with COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. The report has not yet been peer reviewed.
Because it is not known if the patients would have improved without the experimental treatment, the report called for a clinical trial comparing patients who receive the plasma therapy to patients who receive either a placebo or some standard of care.
The study, the largest to date assessing the therapy’s use in COVID-19 patients, comes two weeks after study leader Dr. James Musser told the Chronicle that 30 of the first 50 patients treated with the therapy had recovered and gone home. He said then he would be submitting results to a journal shortly.
More:
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Methodist-study-reports-plasma-therapy-safe-15268695.php
