Early high-titer convalescent plasma therapy in patients with moderate and severe COVID-19.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The use of COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) has been approved by the FDA. We assessed the outcome of patients with moderate and severe COVID-19 following convalescent plasma therapy and the association with variables such as antibody titer in CCP units and transfusion time. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this prospective cohort study, 3097 patients with moderate and severe COVID-19 (according to WHO Progression Scale) had heterogeneous demographic and clinical characteristics received plasma with an unknown titer at the transfusion time. Firstly, information about age, sex, blood group, the time interval from hospitalization to CCP transfusion, underlying disease, and antibody titer with the outcome were investigated. Then, multivariate logistic regression and area under the curve (AUC) were performed for the association between disease severity and intubation variables with transfusion time and outcome. RESULTS: Patients with younger age receiving CCP in the first five days of hospitalization had lower mortality (P < 0.0001). Moreover, patients without the underlying disease had lower mortality (P < 0.001). The mortality rate also decreased in severe patients who were intubated receiving CCP for less than five days (P < 0.001). In patients with moderate severity (score less than 5) who received IgG antibody levels above 1:320 in less than five days had lower mortality (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggested that COVID-19 patients with the moderate type of disease receiving CCP units with high antibody titers in the early stages of the disease experienced greater effectiveness of CCP therapy.

Effective ways to retain first-time blood donors: a field-trial study.

BACKGROUND: Regular blood donors are the cornerstone of blood safety. Understanding the donors' behavior to donate blood improves blood donor retention programs. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the return rate of first-time blood donors following different interventions to identify effective ways to retain first-time donors. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: The study was conducted on 1356 first-time blood donors at four main blood centers in Iran. The donors were randomly assigned based on different interventions (phone calls, educational letter, emotional letter, incentive, motivational meeting, and no intervention) to six groups. The return rate of donors was defined as a second attempt to donate within 6 months after the first donation. Return rate and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated and compared among different groups. RESULTS: A total of 394 (29%) donors returned within 6 months for a second donation (95% CI, 0.26-0.31). The return rate in the emotional letter group, educational letter, phone reminder, incentives, motivational meeting, and control groups was 36% (95% CI, 0.31-0.42), 33.2% (95% CI, 0.27-0.38), 31.5% (95% CI, 0.25-0.37), 30% (95% CI, 0.22-0.38), 22% (95% CI, 0.17-0.27) and 22.1% (95% CI, 0.17-0.27), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence supporting the fact that more first-time blood donors can be motivated to donate again by implementing targeted interventions. It demonstrates that emotional letters, educational letters, and phone reminders were effective in improving the return rate of first-time donors.