EFFECTS OF EARLY ADMINISTERED CONVALESCENT PLASMA ON THE HEALTH OUTCOMES OF OLDER ADULTS WHO HAVE MILD SYMPTOMS DUE TO COVID-19

Volkan Atasoy^{1, *}, Şenol Ardiç², Mustafa Çiçek², Süleyman Türedi²

¹Department of Family Medicine, Kanuni Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Trabzon, Turkey - ²Department of Emergency Medicine, Kanuni Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Trabzon, Turkey

Introduction: In the current study we aimed to investigate the effects of Convalescent Plasma (CP) therapy on the health outcomes of patients aged 60 and older who have mild symptoms due to Covid-19 and do not need hospitalization.

Materials and methods: A total of 84 patients detected to have acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 by swab polymerase chain reaction who applied a single dose of 200 mL CP administered within 7 days after the onset of any Covid-19 symptoms constituted the CP group. Health outcomes including mortality within 15 days and 30 days, hospitalization into Covid-19 service or intensive care unit (ICU) within 30 days were compared with a control group of 3197 patients who did not applied CP. 

Results: In the CP group (48 female, 36 male) the mean age of the patients was 68.1 ± 7.1 (min= 60, max= 85). The groups were similar in terms of age and gender (p=0.454, p=0.373, respectively). The median time from onset of any Covid-19 symptoms to CP administration was 4.15 days (min=2, max=7 days). None of the CP group patient died within 15 days, while mortality within 30 days was 2.4% (2 patients, days 25 and 27). Hospitalization into Covid-19 service and ICU was 20.2% (17 patients) and 4.8% (4 patients), respectively. There was no significant differences in terms of health outcomes within groups albeit CP group has lower mortality and hospitalization rates (p=0.052, p=0.11, p=0.562, p=0.289, respectively).

Conclusion: CP therapy administered in an early course remains an option for clinicians in the treatment of Covid-19 older adult patients who have mild disease on the other hand protecting them out of hospitalization.