Doctors hope 'old school' technique could help COVID-19 patients

WASHINGTON (ABC7) — Two local universities are hoping to show a century-old technique could be the solution to the new virus.

More than two dozen companies around the world are in a race for a COVID-19 vaccine. Researchers at Johns Hopkins and Georgetown Universities are studying whether donated blood plasma from recovered coronavirus patients could help reduce the severity of disease in sick patients or prevent the illness all together.

Want to volunteer for the study? Click here.

“We call it liquid gold,” said Dr. Seble Kassaye, associate professor of medicine at Georgetown University.

For researchers like Dr. Kassaye, plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients is as valuable as it sounds. The liquid portion of the blood is collected, and it may contain high levels of antibodies that could help someone else fight the novel coronavirus.

“Convalescent plasma is so old school, right? It’s been around for 100 years and is this what we have? But guess what, we are still at the point in this epidemic, pandemic, where we are still trying to find out what is the best approach, and from a prevention stand point, we don’t have a lot of tools in our toolbox yet,” she told ABC7 News reporter Victoria Sanchez in a Zoom interview.

The clinical trials are for infection prevention and early treatment.

“We’re starting a transfusion now,” said Dr. David Sullivan, infectious diseases physician at Johns Hopkins.

Dr. Sullivan pointed to two small pods being used for COVID-positive patients participating in the trial. The standalone rooms allow for plasma transfusions to be performed in an outpatient manner.

“I have COVID and I have symptoms,” 46-year-old Judah Holland told Sanchez during a Zoom interview.

The Baltimore resident said he contracted the virus from a family member. He read about the clinical trial online and decided to participate.

“This is just about the only thing I can do,” he said, adding that he has been in quarantine at home.

As Holland spoke with ABC7 News, the bag of plasma was hanging from an IV pole in the pod.

“It’s the clear part of blood. So, this is the bag of plasma going in,” explained Dr. Sullivan.

The trial is a blind study, meaning patients and physicians do not know if the infusion is the “liquid gold”.

“There’s a 50 percent chance that it has antibodies in it. Or it might be a part of the control group. I guess I’m hopeful that this is the real stuff in there,” said Holland.

Unlike vaccine trials, the plasma study requires fewer participants. In total, 500 people are needed to volunteer in the United States, though there are narrow qualifications for volunteers.

“We are taking people who have had a distinct exposure within a very short time frame to someone with the virus,” said Dr. Kassaye.

The exposure time period is three to four days.

“It’s the same principle as a vaccine. We’re delivering the antibodies immediately so people can get better much faster and avoid death and hospitalization. Volunteering for the studies is contributing to the solution,” said Dr. Sullivan.

Volunteers are still needed.

“The hope of this study is that we can transform and move therapy for COVID-19 to outpatient so they can get it in doctor’s offices and urgent care centers right when they have the onset of symptoms so we can prevent people from going to the hospital,” Sullivan said.