Background Convalescent plasma is frequently administered to patients with Covid-19 and has been reported, largely on the basis of observational data, to improve clinical outcomes. Minimal data are available from adequately powered randomized, controlled trials. Methods We randomly assigned hospitalized adult patients with severe Covid-19 pneumonia in a 2:1 ratio to receive convalescent plasma or placebo. The primary outcome was the patient’s clinical status 30 days after the intervention, as measured on a six-point ordinal scale ranging from total recovery to death. Results A total of 228 patients were assigned to receive convalescent plasma and 105 to receive placebo. The median time from the onset of symptoms to enrollment in the trial was 8 days (interquartile range, 5 to 10), and hypoxemia was the most frequent severity criterion for enrollment. The infused convalescent plasma had a median titer of 1:3200 of total SARS-CoV-2 antibodies (interquartile range, 1:800 to 1:3200]. No patients were lost to follow-up. At day 30 day, no significant difference was noted between the convalescent plasma group and the placebo group in the distribution of clinical outcomes according to the ordinal scale (odds ratio, 0.83 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.52 to 1.35; P=0.46). Overall mortality was 10.96% in the convalescent plasma group and 11.43% in the placebo group, for a risk difference of −0.46 percentage points (95% CI, −7.8 to 6.8). Total SARS-CoV-2 antibody titers tended to be higher in the convalescent plasma group at day 2 after the intervention. Adverse events and serious adverse events were similar in the two groups. Conclusions No significant differences were observed in clinical status or overall mortality between patients treated with convalescent plasma and those who received placebo. (PlasmAr ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT04383535 .)

Tropical diseases are not the leading cause of consultation in travelers returning from the tropics. Immigrants are the travelers most at risk of common tropical diseases, with the noteworthy exceptions of dengue fever and invasive schistosomiasis.

Encephalitis and focal neurologic deficits can occur during the acute phase of schistosomiasis. We report two cases in which cerebral imaging showed cerebral vasculitis located in arterial junctional territories. These neurologic complications may be caused by eosinophil-mediated toxicity. Immediate treatment should consist of corticosteroids rather than specific antischistosomal drugs, which may aggravate the disorders.

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The spectrum of dermatoses occurring in travelers returning from tropical areas is poorly documented. We analyzed the relative frequency of travel-associated dermatoses and their possible relationships to travel characteristics in all persons who came to our hospital between November 2002 and May 2003 for a cutaneous disorder related to travel in a tropical country. One hundred sixty-five travelers were included. The main dermatoses identified were infectious cellulitis (12.7%), scabies (10.3%), and pruritus of unknown origin (PUO) (9.1%). Tropical dermatoses accounted for 33.9% of the cutaneous disorders. Univariate analysis showed statistically significant correlations of infectious cellulitis with females, PUO with older age and immigrant status, pyoderma with expatriate status, scabies with tourism and travel to Africa, myiasis with tourism and travel to Africa and America, filariasis with travel to Africa and immigrant status, and cutaneous larva migrans with tourism. Dermatoses diagnosed in travelers returning from the tropics seemed to be influenced by traveler status and region visited.