Anti-MERS-CoV Convalescent Plasma Therapy

Since the first report of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Corona virus (MERS- CoV) in September 2012, more than 800 cases have been reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) with substantial mortality.

World knowledge about this virus is accumulating but data about the clinical presentations of infected patients and common treatments, including ribavirin, interferon and methylprednisolone, lack evidence. Although drugs with anti- coronavirus (CoV) activities have been identified, as yet no anti- MERs- CoV drug has been approved and a vaccine has yet to be developed. Previous reports on other viral infections including SARS have suggested that convalescent plasma or serum is effective where no other treatment is available or in an emergency. A recently completed systematic review and meta-analysis by the University of Nottingham - World Health Organization Collaborating Center indicates that convalescent plasma therapy may be the most promising near-term therapy patients with for MERS- CoV infection. In this study, investigators will study the pharmacokinetics of immunoglobulin in response to convalescent plasma administration in order to inform a much larger study which will investigate the efficacy of convalescent plasma. Plasma will be collected from patients who recently recovered from MERS-CoV, Health Care Workers who had potential exposure and are tested for anti MERS-CoV serology and RT-PCR after obtaining their consent. This convalescent plasma will be stored in the blood bank as per their policies and procedures. Patients with MERS-CoV positive after meeting the eligibility criteria will receive 2 units of convalescent plasma . Clinical data as well as the standard laboratory studies will be collected at baseline, 30 mins after first dose, 30 mins after second dose, day 1, 3, 7, 14, 28 of hospital stay after enrollment.