Convalescent Plasma a Potential Therapy in Covid-19 Patients in Low Resource Setting: Rapid Review

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). At the time of writing, neither a cure nor a vaccine has been approved by the World health organization (WHO) for this disease. Given the fact that the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) viruses have a genetic sequencing similar to SARS-CoV-2, and since the use of convalescent plasma therapy (CP) has proved its efficacy in SARS and MERS virus infections, researchers are starting to focus more on it as a possible therapy for the COVID-19 disease. The main objective of this rapid review is to report and summarize the published evidence on the role of convalescent plasma therapy in the current COVID-19 pandemic.
 Method: The PICO method was used to establish the review question. Moreover, papers were gathered from PubMed and Google scholar, critically appraised for the best evidence. Piersons 5-component scheme was used to check the quality of the review papers.
 Results: After website screening: 10 papers in PubMed and 6 papers from Google scholars were retrieved. There were encouraging reports regarding the uses of CP in the previous viral outbreaks likes SARS and Ebola, yet there is still a doubt on the efficacy of this mode of therapy in the current COVID-19 pandemic.
 Conclusion: CP is a very promising treatment approach for COVID-19 patients; however, more clinical trials are required to validate the effectiveness of this therapy.
 Keywords: COVID-19, convalescent plasma therapy, SARS-CoV-2, therapy.

Antibody fragment V H ab6: universal neutralizer for SARS-CoV-2 variants

“…Additionally, neutralizing antibodies have been found to target unique epitopes in the RBD of SARS-CoV-2’s Spike (S) protein. [4,10] These antibodies can inhibit viral entry by blocking the binding of the S protein to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) on host cells. [11] However, recent discoveries of new SARS-CoV-2 variants [12] with mutations in the S protein have raised questions about the efficacy of current vaccines and therapeutic antibodies.…”

“…SARS-CoV-2 is an RNA virus with a high genetic drift, especially when subjected to the selective pressures of actively administered preventive vaccinations and neutralizing antibody; the use of antibodies is considered to be a critical strategy for efficient COVID-19 management. [4] Furthermore, SARS-CoV-2 can trigger an overzealous immune response, leading in a cytokine storm that accelerates disease severity. Antibodies to counteract cytokine storms are also being researched as COVID-19 therapies.…”