It’s been more than seven months since Massachusetts confirmed its first case of coronavirus in February.
Businesses have since shut down and some have reopened. Some are nearing their eighth month of closure. Masks have become an everyday habit akin to tying one’s shoe.
As change remains constant in some sectors, for coronavirus patients, not much has changed in terms of treatment.
As of Sunday, Massachusetts reported 125,479 cases throughout the pandemic. The statewide death toll stands at 9,100.
“When people are diagnosed, they just have to wait at home wondering if they’re going to get sick and go to the hospital,” said, Dr. David Sullivan, Professor of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. “What we’re trying to do is stop the progression of the disease and stop from having to go to the hospital with treatment.”
Once a patient arrives at a hospital there’s still only so much doctors can do. While the world waits for a vaccine, researchers at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine have partnered with the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester to develop a treatment to help patients ward off the virus early after diagnosis.
“There’s plenty to do before the vaccine comes,” Sullivan said. “We know a vaccine is not going to be perfect. There’s going to be breakthroughs and we still need to come up with outpatient therapy.”
The study, which will be conducted in part at UMass Medical School, looks at how blood plasma treatment can help patients early after diagnosis in battling off COVID-19, which has killed nearly 200,000 people in the United States.
The blood plasma treatment isn’t new and has been used on illnesses in the past. Its effectiveness during this pandemic has been called into question, though. In August, the Food and Drug Administration held back an approval after top federal officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, criticized its effectiveness.
Unlike other treatments billed in the past, a plasma transfusion is safe for patients. Criticism only revolves around whether it successfully combats COVID-19.
However, Sullivan said past studies, like the one that drew hesitancy from government officials in August, focused on treatment after people had been hospitalized - meaning the virus was in advanced stages.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins and UMass are focusing on plasma treatment for individuals who tested positive for COVID-19 but have yet to experience severe symptoms.
Sullivan believes if the plasma treatment is provided soon after diagnosis, it could fight off the virus before it strengthens.
Sullivan likened the treatment to a cup of water and a fire. A cup of water would have no problem dousing a lit match or two. However, the same cup would have little effect on a conflagration.
“We’re going to have the most reduction in the virus, the earlier we give it,” Sullivan said.
The study is similar to groundbreaking research by Dr. Yang Wang at UMass. She and her team discovered antibodies that may provide effective immunity in the respiratory system against COVID-19.
Like Wang’s research, the study Sullivan is leading focuses on passive immunity, rather than active immunity, which is how a vaccine works.
The plasma transfusion would come from a patient who has recovered from COVID-19. Because the recovered patient successfully defeated the virus, their plasma may be able to do the same thing for others. The plasma would aid the patient in fighting off the coronavirus before it strengthens and causes advanced symptoms.
The plasma treatment, Sullivan said, could provide immunity to the virus for up to two months. The study, funded by the Department of Defense, could be used to help first-responders, teachers or service members return to work with passive immunity to COVID-19.
“If society is really going to start functioning, we’re going to need an outpatient therapy and that’s what we’re trying to validate,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan hopes to complete the study within a few months.
UMass Medical School is looking for volunteers for the study. Volunteers will be compensated $200, Sullivan said.
As Sullivan explained, the key to the trial is early treatment. Volunteers interested in participating must have been exposed to the virus within three days of contacting researchers. Those who tested positive must contact researchers within five days of diagnosis.
Those interested can contact Johns Hopkins at 888-506-1199 or www.covidplasmatrial.org to fill out the enrollment questionnaire.
“Our important work continues even as the cases have waned here in Massachusetts. We are actively looking for patients who were either exposed to or just recently diagnosed with COVID-19,” medical director of the UMass Cancer Center and associate professor of medicine Jonathan Gerber said.
Unlike a vaccine, plasma is available now and is inexpensive, Sullivan said. The treatment involves a single one-hour transfusion rather than two doses, which many of the late-stage vaccine candidates require.
A vaccine, Sullivan said, also comes with limitations. Some individuals who are immunocompromised will likely need the most time for a vaccine to respond in their bodies. It may not be effective for others.
“We can deal with this virus, but we need people, when they have a COVID illness or exposure, they can make a difference, they can be part of the solution,” Sullivan said. “Participating in these trials is being part of the solution.”
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