Effectiveness of Convalescent Plasma Therapy in 8 Non-Intubated COVID-19 Patients in Indonesia: A Case Series

Eight non-intubated Covid-19 patients confirmed by real-time viral RNA PCR tests were included. Four patients had been administered two doses of 200 mL convalescent plasma (CP) and another four patients had been administered one dose of CP with an antibody titer of 1:320. This study has three goals included to detect the improvement of patient clinical and laboratory conditions, safety of CPT, and conversion from positive to negative results after CPT administration. Convalescent plasma applied within two weeks (13 days) from onset of illness and within a week (6.5 days) from the first day of hospital admission for all patients. Improvements in clinical symptoms, laboratory parameters, thorax photo, negative conversion of PCR, and decreased oxygen supplementation occurred within a week after CPT. Patients with two doses of CP tended to have faster recovery than those with one dose of CP. No severe adverse effects were observed in any patient. This is the first case series in Indonesia showing CPT is safe and well tolerated, and early CPT before the patient is intubated could potentially prevent disease progression, increase the recovery rate, and shorten the inpatient days.