Use of Blood Plasma From COVID Survivors in Current Patients Has 'No Clear Benefit': WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday advised against the use of blood plasma from people who recovered from COVID-19 to treat virus patients. A review of evidence indicated that while the treatments were expensive and time-consuming, there was "no clear benefit" in helping to curb severe infections and deaths.

"Current evidence shows that convalescent plasma does not improve survival or reduce the need for mechanical ventilation, while it has significant costs," the WHO said in a news release.

In its recommendation, the WHO cited an independent panel of experts who assessed trial results for convalescent plasma. The experts viewed data from 16 randomized controlled trials that included more than 16,000 patients who had non-severe, severe and critical COVID-19 infections, according to the release.

The WHO recommended against the use of convalescent plasma in non-severe patients but said results were less conclusive for severe and critical patients.

"While the evidence that convalescent plasma has no benefit in non-severe patients was certain, it was less so in the case of severe and critically ill patients. So, randomized clinical trials for these subgroups should continue," the release said.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted emergency use authorization to convalescent plasma treatments but revised the approval in February to include only hospitalized COVID patients in the early stages of infection and other hospitalized individuals who have immune disorders that inhibit their antibody response.

Additionally, it limited the treatments to only using high-titer COVID-19 plasma, or plasma with high levels of antibodies.

"Plasma with low levels of antibodies has not been shown to be helpful in COVID-19," the FDA said in the February announcement.

The guidance against the use of convalescent plasma, a component of blood that is rich in antibodies, was published in the British Medical Journal.

"As such, the WHO makes a strong recommendation against the use of convalescent plasma in patients with non-severe illness, and a recommendation against its use in patients with severe and critical illness, except in the context of a randomized controlled trial," WHO said.

The group of experts said in an 81-page study that there was "no clear benefit for critical outcomes" such as the need for mechanical ventilation—breathing machines—or deaths of COVID-19 patients.

WHO previously weighed in on other COVID-19 treatments, such as recommending some steroids for patients with severe or critical cases, and advising against the use of the anti-parasite medication ivermectin and the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.