The application of COVID-19 convalescent plasma in clinical treatment

The severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus disease known as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is caused by SARS-CoV-2 has caused a global pandemic since late 2019. As of 7 February 2020, more than 106 million people have been infected, and approximately 2,317 thousand people have died due to SARS-CoV-2 across 200 countries. Unfortunately, to date, many aspects of pathogenesis, infection, clinical manifestations and treatment methods remain unclear, no specific antiviral drugs or vaccines have been reported for patients with COVID-19 infection. Most patients with severe infections require supportive organ function therapies in the intensive care unit (ICU). Passive antibody therapies such as convalescent plasma (CP) therapy have been proved to be effective in the treatment of many infectious diseases such as SARS and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), which are also assumed as a promising strategy in the treatment of critically ill COVID-19 patients. With the increasing investigation, the objective understanding of COVID-19 prevention, treatment and comorbid disease is beneficial for the application of the strategy applied in the clinical trials. Herein, we briefly discuss the current therapeutic approaches for patients with COVID-19, especially focuses on the application of therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) for selected critically ill patients, aiming to provide some guidance for the treatment of severe COVID-19.