SARS-CoV-2 Hyperimmune Globulin May Help Immunosuppressed Patients

(Reuters) – Hospitalized COVID-19 patients who are severely immunocompromised may benefit from treatment with a purified, highly-concentrated form of antibody-rich blood plasma from previously infected people known as hyperimmune globulin, according to a small trial.

Netherlands-based researchers measured the need for mechanical ventilation, high-flow nasal oxygen, readmission for COVID-19 after hospital discharge or lack of clinical improvement among 18 subjects four weeks after administration of either SARS-CoV-2 hyperimmune globulin or immune globulin that did not contain antibodies to the coronavirus. The trial participants were organ transplant patients taking strong immunosuppressive drugs and others with diseases or medication regimens that impaired the function of immune cells called B cells.

The adverse outcomes occurred in 20% of patients who received the hyperimmune globulin with COVID-19 antibodies, compared to 88% of those who did not, according to a report posted on medRxiv ahead of peer review.

In severely immunocompromised patients, SARS-CoV-2 hyperimmune globulin “may reduce the risk for severe COVID-19 and can be used when no monoclonal antibody therapies are available,” the researchers concluded.

SOURCE: https://bit.ly/3M2cjqQ medRxiv, online April 5, 2022.

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