Convalescent plasma therapy in patients with COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, a new and different coronavirus. Since almost every continent in the world has been affected, the global actions have been focused on prevention, detection, and patient monitoring with no specific treatment until now. Classical and historical interventions have remerged as options including convalescent plasma. The use of convalescent plasma has become more important during large-scale epidemics, such as Mid-East respiratory syndrome-CoV and influenza pneumonia, data regarding support its clinical use. Unfortunately, published clinical data on the usefulness of convalescent plasma in patients with COVID-19 are scarce, but it has shown good clinical outcomes. There are no reports of adverse events in clinical trials of patients receiving convalescent plasma treatment for COVID-19. Nevertheless, FDA has issued its recommendations for the use of convalescent plasma as an option that may provide clinical effect for treatment during the public health emergency caused by COVID-19, with recommendations to avoid adverse effects in centers developing clinical trials with coronavirus convalescent plasma.