It was published this Wednesday the 6th in the magazine The New England Journal of Medicine. 
IECS researchers participated in the randomized placebo-controlled study “Evaluation of the efficacy of the administration of convalescent plasma from COVID-19 in reducing the progression of severe disease in older adults with mild symptoms due to SARS-COV2”, whose results were presented in the publication The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), considered one of the two most rigorous and influential in medicine. The study is the first to provide high-quality experimental evidence on the effectiveness of early administration of convalescent plasma, and makes this intervention one of the most important therapeutic strategies for the treatment of COVID.
The main findings were:
*Severe respiratory disease developed in 13 of 80 patients (16%) of those who received convalescent plasma and 25 of 80 patients (31%) of those who received placebo, implying a relative risk reduction of 48% (which reaches 60% when six patients who had an adverse outcome before receiving the infusion are excluded).
*Convalescent plasma, with sufficient antibodies and administered within the first 3 days of onset of mild symptoms, reduces the progression of COVID-19 to severe disease in older adults.
The Institute of Clinical and Health Effectiveness had the enormous pleasure and privilege of collaborating with the INFANT Foundation team in the development and implementation of this important public health study. The IECS team participated in the development of the protocol, the conduct of the study and the analysis, interpretation and reporting of the results together with the INFANT team led by Dr. Polack. «It is a study that provides relevant scientific evidence in public health that informs decision-making about the positive effect of the administration of convalescent plasma in the early stage of infection with SARS-CoV-2 in the population most vulnerable to this disease. , who are the elderly," said the Dr. Mabel Berrueta, responsible for the IECS Data Management, Statistical Analysis and Information Systems Unit.
Based on quality standards and good clinical practices, the IECS Unit designed the study procedures (including randomization and product stock management) and trained the personnel related to the collection. management and processing of data, continuously monitoring compliance. Finally, after obtaining high-quality data collected in real time, researchers from the institution were responsible, together with colleagues from INFANT, for the final analysis of the results of the clinical trial, and the writing of the paper published in the NEJM.
To access the publication click here