Diabetes Patients of COVID-19 Infection Treated with Convalescent Plasma Transfusion in Wuhan, China

Abstract

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2 had spread all over the world, causing public health emergency. Although the diagnosis for COVID-19 such as nucleic acid test and antibody detection have been well defined, there is still a big gap of knowledge regarding for COVID-19 patients receiving convalescent plasma transfusion (CPT) therapy, especially patients with comorbidity of diabetes. Method: In this study, out of 3059 COVID-19 patients admitted in Wuhan Huoshenshan Hospital of China, we described the characteristics of 39 diabetes patients receiving the transfusion of ABO-compatible convalescent plasma, and compared the baseline information and clinical outcome with that of 328 diabetes patients receiving traditional treatment. Results: It was found that the intervention of CPT therapy was effective and beneficial for COVID-19 patients, including severe or critical patients with comorbidity of diabetes, without obvious adverse effects observing during the treatments. The CPT therapy significantly improved the clinical outcome of diabetes patients with COVID-19 infection, especially the duration based on six categories compared to the patients with traditional therapy. Conclusions: This study not only provided a better understanding of COVID-19 in diabetes people receiving CPT, but also highlighted the CPT therapy was helpful for COVID-19 patients with comorbidity of diabetes.