A Randomized Study of Immune Plasma for the Treatment of Severe Influenza

Beigel, John H.; Tebas, Pablo; Elie-Turenne, Marie-Carmelle; Bajwa, Ednan; Bell, Todd E.; Cairns, Charles B.; Shoham, Shmuel; Deville, Jaime G.; Feucht, Eric; Feinberg, Judith; Luke, Thomas; Raviprakash, Kanakatte; Danko, Janine; O’Neil, Dorothy; Metcalf, Julia A.; King, Karen; Burgess, Timothy H.; Aga, Evgenia; Lane, H. Clifford; Hughes, Michael D.; Davey, Richard T.

Better outcomes among participants randomized to receive plasma in the PEP across multiple other pre-specified measures of efficacy were also observed though they did not achieve statistical significance (Table 2 ). For participants randomized to receive plasma, there were fewer days in the hospital after randomization (median 6 vs. 11, p= 0·13), fewer participants with hospital readmissions (2 vs. 7, p=0·096), fewer participants with ICU admissions (57% vs. 69%, p = 0·097), and fewer days on mechanical ventilation (median 0 vs. 3, p=0·14). In contrast, the days on oxygen after randomization were not different (median 7 vs. 8, p=0·52), nor were the days in the ICU after randomization (median 2·5 vs. 3, p = 0·37). As in the case of the primary endpoint, the benefit appeared greatest in participants who had ≤ 4 of symptoms prior to randomization ( Figure 2B , proportional hazards model p = 0·038).