Convalescent plasma therapy: RCSI Bahrain finds no significant benefit, records zero safety issues

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

A clinical trial of Convalescent plasma therapy for adults hospitalised with severe COVID-19 infection found that the treatment is safe. The RCSI Bahrain-backed study also announced finding no significant benefit from the use of plasma.

There was little difference between “those who received and those who did not receive the plasma.”

They also recommended conducting a large-scale study for further examining the use of convalescent plasma therapy in the Kingdom.

The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland - the Medical University of Bahrain led the study in collaboration with the Bahrain Defence Force Hospital and the Ministry of Health.

The clinical trial entailed taking antibody-rich plasma from subjects recovered from COVID-19 and injecting it into 20 patients who are severely suffering from COVID-19 to see if it will reduce the severity of the disease.

The results were compared to those of 20 patients who did not receive injections and received standard care.

The US Food and Drug Administration had given emergency authorisation for convalescent plasma therapy with high antibody levels to treat COVID-19.

RCSI Bahrain President, Professor Sameer Otoom, Professor Stephen Atkin, Head of the School of Postgraduate Studies and Research and Professor Manaf Alqahtani, Professor of Microbiology-Infectious Disease and Clinical Microbiology, led the study.

The study was under the directives of Lieutenant General Dr Shaikh Mohammed bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, Chairman of the Supreme Council of Health and Head of the National Taskforce for Combating Coronavirus (COVID-19) and Major General (Prof ) Khalid Bin Ali Al Khalifa, Head of Research and Director of Royal Medical Services.

RCSI Bahrain President, Professor Sameer Otoom, said: “Developing healthcare through research has always been a point of focus for RCSI Bahrain.”