SynthesisInfluenza and other respiratory viruses2020
Passive immune therapy and other immunomodulatory agents for the treatment of severe influenza: Systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Influenza and other respiratory viruses, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04513158 (Convalescent Plasma in the Early Treatment of High-Risk Patients With SARS-CoV-2), which is not on this map. Cited by 7 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Convalescent Plasma in the Early Treatment of High-Risk Patients With SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) Infection
Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 11 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy of convalescent plasma for the treatment of severe influenza.Critical care (London, England) · 2020Pooled it
- Passive immune therapy and other immunomodulatory agents for the treatment of severe influenza: Systematic review and meta-analysis.Influenza and other respiratory viruses · 2020Pooled it
- Influenza.Nature reviews. Disease primers · 2026Review
- Timing-specific efficacy of antiviral baloxavir and anti-inflammatory oclacitinib monotherapies, and the benefits of their combination in treating influenza in mice.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Global variability of influenza activity and virus subtype circulation from 2011 to 2023.BMJ open respiratory research · 2023Article
- Infection with Influenzavirus A in a murine model induces epithelial bronchial lesions and distinct waves of innate immune-cell recruitment.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Article
- Safety and potential efficacy of cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors in coronavirus disease 2019.Clinical & translational immunology · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundA range of immunomodulatory therapies have been proposed as adjuncts to conventional antivirals to suppress harmful inflammation during severe influenza infection. We conducted a systematic review to assess available data of the effect of adjunctive non-corticosteroid immunomodulatory therapy and potential adverse effects.
methodWe searched MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science and clinical trial databases for published and unpublished studies, and screened the references of included articles. We included RCTs, quasi-RCTs and observational studies of virologically confirmed influenza infections in hospitalised patients. We did not restrict studies by language of publication, influenza type/subtype or age of participants. Where possible, we pooled estimates of effect using random-effects meta-analysis models.
resultsWe identified 11 eligible studies for inclusion: five studies (4 RCTs and 1 observational; 693 individuals) of passive immune therapy; four studies (3 RCTs and 1 observational; 1120 individuals) of macrolides and/or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), one RCT of mTOR inhibitors (38 individuals), and one RCT of statin therapy (116 individuals). Meta-analysis of RCTs of passive immune therapy indicated no significant reduction in mortality (OR 0.84, 0.37-1.90), but better clinical outcomes at Day 7 (OR 1.42, 1.05-1.92). There was a significant reduction in mortality associated with macrolides and/or NSAIDs (OR 0.28; 0.10-0.77).
conclusionsPassive immune therapy is unlikely to offer substantial mortality benefit in treatment of severe seasonal influenza, but may improve clinical outcomes. The effect of other immunomodulatory agents is uncertain, but promising. There is a need for high-quality RCTs with sufficient statistical power to address this evidence gap.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.