Convalescent Plasma Antibody Levels and the Risk of Death from COVID-19

Mayo Clinic researchers and collaborators found an association between administration of convalescent plasma containing high antibodies and lower mortality rates for hospitalized patients with COVID-19 who are not on ventilators. The paper reports:

  • Patients selected to receive convalescent plasma were 18 years and older, hospitalized with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and had or were progressing to severe or life-threatening COVID-19.
  • This pre-planned analysis of treatment and outcome data on 3,082 patients based on mortality 30 days after receiving one dose of plasma.
  • The plasma doses were assessed as having low, medium and high anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. The data were collected over three months from patients enrolled up to July 4, 2020, as part of the national Expanded Access Program for Convalescent Plasma.
  • The group of patients receiving the plasma with low antibody levels had the highest mortality rate at 29.6%. Mortality for those receiving the medium-level antibody convalescent plasma was 27.4%. High antibody convalescent plasma showed the lowest mortality rate, 22.3%.

Read the full paper in the New England Journal of Medicine.