• Hidetoshi Nomoto, Satoshi Kutsuna, Kazu Okuma, Madoka Kuramitsu, Kenta Tezuka, Emi Ikebe, Sho Saito, Noriko Kinoshita, Mari Terada, Mio Endo, Tetsuya Suzuki, Yusuke Miyazato, Takato Nakamoto, Makoto Inada, Isao Hamaguchi, and Norio Ohmagari.
• Disease Control and Prevention Center, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Tokyo, Japan; Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases, Graduate School of Medicine, Tohoku University, Miyagi, Japan.
• J. Infect. Chemother. 2021 Apr 1; 27 (4): 653-655.

IntroductionConvalescent plasma transfusion (CPT), a potential therapy for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), requires strict quality control of the donor blood. Whether to confirm the disappearance of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA (RNAemia) in convalescent donor blood or not is unclear. Reports recommending the proof of viral disappearance from the blood are controversial. Foreseeing CPT in treating COVID-19 patients in Japan, we investigated RNAemia in 100 convalescent donors with mild, moderate, and severe COVID-19.MethodsBetween April 30 and July 30, 2020, we measured RNAemia in the plasma samples of donors with resolved COVID-19. Data on patients' demographics, comorbidities, pneumonia, treatment, and real-time polymerase chain reaction results for SARS-CoV-2 were collected. Date of onset of initial symptoms or date of positive testing (for asymptomatic patients) were self-reported by the patients. Disease severity was defined as: no, mild, moderate oxygen demand, or severe (requiring mechanical ventilation).ResultsOf 100 donors (58 males [58.0%]; median age, 47 [range 22-69] years) screened as of July 30, 2020, 77 (77.0%); 19 (19.0%); and 4 (4.0%) had mild, moderate, and severe disease, respectively. Median time between onset and testing was 68.5 (range, 21-167) days. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was not detected in any of the plasma samples.ConclusionRNAemia was not found in recovered COVID-19 patients at least 21, 27, and 57 days after the onset of mild, moderate, and severe symptoms. Our study may contribute to determining a suitable time for collecting convalescent plasma from COVID-19 patients and to future CPT use.Copyright © 2021 Japanese Society of Chemotherapy and The Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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