COVID-19 studies look at spread, plasma treatment

A U.K. study found no association between COVID-19 symptoms and the ability of infected people to infect to others. Researchers deliberately exposed 36 young and healthy participants aged 18 to 30 years old with no immunity to the SARS-CoV-2 virus and tracked the virus' full course, from the point of infection until it was eliminated from the body. Their findings are published in the journal Nature. A separate study by U.S. researchers found early treatment of newly diagnosed COVID-19 patients with convalescent plasma reduced the need for hospitalization by more than 50%. The results appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine. (BioSpace article, 4/1/22)