Evangelos Terpos, MD, PhD, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece, discusses the findings of a Phase II study (NCT04408209) investigating antibody titers in convalescent plasma from donor COVID-19 patients, and if they correlated with disease characteristics. 259 recovered COVID-19 patients were tested for the presence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Further analyses showed that age ≥50 years and need for hospitalization was correlated with higher antibody titers, whereas being asymptomatic, and testing ≥60 days post symptoms onset correlated with lower levels. On an individual symptom level, antibodies were strongly correlated with loss of taste and smell, fever and headache. Although the results suggest a fast reduction in anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies following infection, whether the same occurs for neutralizing antibodies, and if it impacts host immunity is, as of yet, unclear. This interview took place during the 62nd American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition, 2020.
