• Petrungaro Annamaria, Quartarone Eugenia, and Sciarrone Paolo.
• Unit of Transfusion Medicine, Department of Services, University Hospital "G. Martino" Via Consolare Valeria 1, 98100, Messina, Italy. Electronic address: annamaria.petrungaro@polime.it.
• Transfus Apher Sci. 2020 Oct 1; 59 (5): 102850.

AbstractCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the novel coronavirus has become a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. Among the various treatment proposals for COVID-19 infection, passive immunotherapy using plasma from recovering patients - "convalescent plasma" (CP)- could be a promising option in the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infections. Immune (i.e. "convalescent") plasma refers to plasma that is collected from individuals, following resolution of infection and development of antibodies. Passive antibody administration through transfusion of convalescent plasma may offer the only short-term strategy to confer immediate immunity to susceptible individuals. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the use of plasma therapy is permitted when faced with «serious diseases for which there are no effective pharmacological treatments». Several clinical trials are underway to test the effectiveness of hyperimmune plasma at various stages of SARS-CoV2.The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. regulatory authority, has approved the use of CP for compassionate use in the treatment of patients with a critical COVID-19 infection. Below are the general indications for drawing up clinical protocols for the integral management of "COVID-19-convalescent plasma" for which the validation and approval of the Ethics Committees is still necessary.Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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