Participants needed for hospitals’ COVID-19 trials
DANBURY — Local hospitals are participating in two clinical trials run by John Hopkins University to study the treatment and prevention of COVID-19.
Danbury and Norwalk hospitals, as well as their Nuvance Health sister hospital, Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., were selected for these studies.
“We are very excited to be able to offer these national studies to our local communities,” Joann Petrini, Ph.D., vice president of innovation and research at Nuvance Health, said in a statement. “This is one of many ways that Nuvance Health is working to combat the devastating impact of COVID-19.”
The hospitals are seeking volunteers who were exposed to or diagnosed with the virus and do not require hospitalization.
They will be among 1,100 people recruited from across the country to help researchers determine if convalescent blood plasma therapy can effectively be used to treat people in the early stages of the virus or prevent illness in those who are at high risk of being exposed at their homes or jobs.
“Preliminary studies on convalescent plasma use in severely ill, hospitalized patients have shown that convalescent plasma is safe,” Petrini said. “These new studies will test whether a transfusion of plasma containing antibodies from persons who have recovered from COVID-19 is an effective treatment for patients with early illness and a way to prevent the infection among those who have been exposed to the virus.”
People who may be eligible for the prevention trial are those who have been exposed in their home or at work as health care providers.
For the companion trial, participants must be within eight days of their first symptoms but are not sick enough to be in a hospital.
All participants must be over 18.
Participants will receive one intravenous infusion of the convalescent plasma that contains antibodies for COVID-19 or placebo plasma that does not contain the antibodies. The infusion, done at an outpatient facility, usually takes about an hour.
Those who have been exposed to the virus will be evaluated over four weeks for development of infection, including symptom checks and laboratory testing for the virus and antibodies.
Participants with COVID-19 will be monitored over four weeks to determine the course and severity of the disease. Researchers will examine the longterm immunity of both groups at three months after infusion.
For more information on the plasma trials and eligibility, contact: COVID19plasmaStudy@nuvancehealth.org or call 203-739-7341 TTY: 800-8429710 in Connecticut or 845230-1411 TTY:800 421-1200 in New York.