High-Dose Intravenous Immunoglobulin as a Therapeutic Option for Deteriorating Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019

Cao, Wei; Liu, Xiaosheng; Bai, Tao; Fan, Hongwei; Hong, Ke; Song, Hui; Han, Yang; Lin, Ling; Ruan, Lianguo; Li, Taisheng

The outbreak of pneumonia of unknown cause that first occurred in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, has recently been assessed by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a pandemic. The pneumonia is caused by a novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, previously known as 2019-nCoV), and the disease it caused was later designated coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) by the WHO. As of March 12, 2020, a total of 80 981 cases had been reported in China, including 3173 reported deaths. Meanwhile, the number of confirmed patients continues to grow outside of China, and 45 309 cases have already been reported [1] . The relatively high infectivity, rapid progression of lung involvement, and lack of definite effective treatment make it urgent to develop efficient measures of management based on the pathogenesis of COVID-19. Although many empirical therapeutic options have been introduced on several operational recommendations, including existing and new generation of antivirals, steroids, and traditional Chinese medicine, the optimal strategy for severe COVID-19 remains unclear.