Chicago hospital performing clinical trial to help COVID-19 patients

CHICAGO - There has been growing talk of how to harvest the immunity built up by COVID-19 survivors, and now that work is underway in Chicago.

Those who have survived COVID-19 might hold the key to helping others -- inside their blood.

“You want to take plasma from a person who has recovered from the disease who likely has anti-virus antibodies and then infuse them into a person currently sick with the disease in the hopes of making them recover,” said Dr. Maria Lucia Madariaga.

Doctor Madariaga is leading a clinical trial just launched at the University of Chicago Medicine. First, they need the blood plasma of people who tested positive for COVID-19 but have recovered for about a month.

“The amount of antibodies against the virus will have peaked at 28 days, so that's the best time to get serum,” said Dr. Patrick Wilson of University of Chicago.

Plasma therapy is not new, but this is the first Chicago study to see if it works on COVID-19. It is a small trial to start, treating just 10 patients who are seriously ill.

“Helping the patients get over the hardest part of their infection and then their own immune system should start to take over and then they'll produce their own immunity after that,” said Dr. Wilson.

“We are accepting any donors with a positive COVID-19 test who can come to the University of Chicago to donate blood,” said Dr. Madariaga.

U. of Chicago researchers caution this is a first step to see if the plasma transfusions are safe and feasible, but the ultimate goal is treatment, even a vaccine, using survivors to help others survive this pandemic.