COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Treatment in SARS-CoV-2 Infected Patients

Ministry of Health, Kuwait300 enrolled

Overview

Due to the limitations of COVID-19 treatment and in the absence of licensed antiviral for COVID-19, the historical choice of therapeutic convalescent plasma (CP) is considered especially against RNA viruses .It was known that convalescent plasma does not only neutralize the pathogens but provide passive immunomodulatory properties that allows the recipient to control the exaggerated inflammatory cascade. However, still there is a lack of understanding of the mechanism of action of CCP therapeutic components. Reports from open label trials and case series show that CCP is safe and might be effective in severe cases with COVID-19 . Therefore, the World health organisation (WHO) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued guidelines for the CCP usage and standardised the donor selection , which was further supported by Emergency use Authorisation (EUA) . Therefore, the aim in the current study is to assess the effect of CCP on time to clinical improvement, hospital mortality and to evaluate the changes on oxygen saturation and laboratory markers (lymphocyte counts and C-reactive protein) compared with standard treatment alone in patients with moderate or severe COVID-19 disease.

This is a prospective multicenter interventional observational study will be conducted in 4 major tertiary hospitals (Al-Sabah, Farwaniya , Mubarak Al-Kabeer and Jahra) in Kuwait .

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

NON_RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

300

Conditions

Moderate COVID-19 Pneumonia, Severe COVID-19 Pneumonia

Interventions

COVID-19 Convalscent PlasmaDRUG

The source convalescent plasma is typically collected from individuals who have recovered from COVID-19 which contains antibodies titer against SARS-CoV-2 and is administered to patients with COVID-19. Donor eligibility criteria and qualification are based on American Accredited Blood Banks ( AABB) standards , including questionnaires and relevant transfusion-transmitted infections testing are performed. Furthermore, pathogen inactivation will be performed for each unit, CCP was only collected from individuals who meet all donor eligibility requirements (21 CFR 630.10 and 21 CFR 630.15). Donors must be found positive at a diagnostic test of nasopharyngeal swab at the time of illness and positive serological test for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies after recovery. All donors should have negative HLA antibodies.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 15 YearsMax age: 85 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: 1. Patients aged ≥18 years old ( those who are younger are involved after case based discussion) 2. Confirmed laboratory diagnosis with SARS-CoV-2 ,and admission diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2. 3. Patients with moderate or severe COVID-19 (moderate COVID-19 disease defined as the presence of any signs of pneumonia (fever, cough, dyspnoea fast breathing) including SpO2 \>90 on room air , but no signs of severe pneumonia (severe pneumonia have the above plus one of the following: respiratory rates \>30 breaths/minutes or SpO2\<90% on room air), or admission to intensive care unit (ICU) for respiratory support (i.e.high flow nasal cannula, non-invasive mechanical ventilation and intubation). Exclusion Criteria: 1. -Contraindication to transfusion (volume overload, history of anaphylaxis to blood products). 2. \- Patients presenting with acute severe multiorgan failure, hemodynamic instability. 3- Severe disseminated coagulopathy (DIC), septic shock and those with expected survival of less than 48 hours.

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Time to clinical improvement

Time to clinical improvement is defined as a time frame from CCP administration till 30 days or discharge, defined as a 2-grade decrease on an ordinal WHO clinical scale . The WHO clinical scale based on the following 7-grade ordinal levels: 1= ambulatory, independent; 2= ambulatory with assistance; 3=hospitalised, not requiring supplemental oxygen; 4= hospitalised, requiring supplemental oxygen; 5= hospitalised, requiring nasal high-flow oxygen therapy, noninvasive mechanical ventilation, or both; 6= hospitalised, requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, invasive mechanical ventilation, or both; and 7= death.

Time frame: 30 days

Secondary Outcomes

All cause mortality