WHO advised to stop treatment with blood plasma of COVID-19 patients

A group of international experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) has advised to stop treating patients with coronavirus with blood plasma of COVID-19 patients. This is stated in the press release of the organization, which was received by “Lenta.ru”.

According to WHO scientists, current data show that this method of treatment does not reduce the risks of death from coronavirus or the likelihood of being on mechanical ventilation, and plasma treatment is costly and time-consuming.

Thus, WHO opposes the use of plasma from recovered patients for patients with mild, moderate and severe disease. Recommendations are based on data from 16 studies involving 16,236 patients with mild, severe and critical COVID-19 infection.

These guidelines are part of a guideline developed by the World Health Organization, with methodological support from the MAGIC Evidence Ecosystem Foundation, to provide robust COVID-19 treatment recommendations and help clinicians make better decisions about patient care.

The recommendation for patients with mild disease reflects the panel’s view that drug treatment for patients with a low risk of death or severe disease is not warranted.

The experts also noted several practical problems, such as the need to identify and test potential donors, and to collect, store and administer donor plasma, which they say further limits its feasibility and applicability. In addition, after carefully reviewing all the information, the team of specialists concluded that almost all well-informed patients about the coronavirus would prefer not to receive plasma as a treatment.

In September, the WHO Guidelines Development Group recommended the use of the REGEN-COV antibody cocktail combination for two patient populations. The first group consists of patients with non-severe COVID-19 with the highest risk of hospitalization. The second is made up of severely or critically ill coronavirus infection who are seronegative – unable to develop antibodies against COVID-19.