Convalescent Plasma Therapy for the Treatment of COVID-19
Topic Status Complete
Convalescent plasma therapy for people with COVID-19
Summary
The HTW Assessment Group considered the evidence presented in final version of the EUnetHTA rolling collaborative review and the HTW Evidence Appraisal Report 032. They decided there would not be value in developing guidance as collection of convalescent plasma has ceased in Wales and there are no plans to continue use of this intervention for people with COVID-19. Due to this, they recommended publication of the evidence appraisal review with no further action.
Why was this topic appraised?
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Most people infected with the virus will have mild to moderate symptoms that recover without needing special treatment. However, COVID-19 can present as a severe illness that has diverse effects on multiple systems of the body and requires hospitalisation, sometimes with escalation to intensive treatment. Convalescent plasma therapy has been suggested to improve outcomes for people with COVID-19 by providing passive immunity to protect a person until their own immune system develops antibodies that can combat the disease.
Health Technology Wales (HTW) initially began reviewing this topic as part of a European Network (EUnetHTA) collaboration with several partner health technology assessment agencies and a HTW evidence appraisal review was then completed based on this work. The review aimed to examine the effectiveness of convalescent plasma therapy for people with COVID-19.
Evidence Appraisal Review
EAR032 03.2022