Covid plasma trials underway at Wayne State, paid volunteers needed

FOX 2 - A new coronavirus study is taking place and volunteers are needed.

"We are very excited about enrolling patients in the study," said Dr. James Paxton, overseeing Wayne State University trials."This is one of the few things we know seems to show a benefit." 

Several doctors are encouraged about how plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients could help others who get the virus. That is what they hope to find out with the new Covid plasma trials. 

"With one we are going to see if we can prevent people from having to go to the hospital with coronavirus and keep them from getting too sick," said Dr. Shmuel Shoham, associate professor of medicine, Johns Hopkins.  "And the other one is to prevent people from getting the infection in the first place."

The trials are going on across the country including at Wayne State University. 

Researchers are looking for patients who tested positive for COVID-19 in the last five days and have symptoms but aren't sick enough to go to the hospital. They are also looking for people who were exposed in the last three days. 

Participants will get donated plasma, then doctors will monitor their symptoms. 

"Instead of active immunization, which is what you get with a vaccine, this is passive immunization which is passing the antibodies to a person so they hopefully are protected," said Shoham.

Researchers say they need 1,100 total participants. They are reaching out to patients who could qualify. They're also asking you to contact them if you meet the criteria. So far they have had a handful of metro Detroiters sign up and they are hopeful for many more. 

"This is a chance for us to help our community," said Paxton. "We've always been involved in helping, but we've never been in a high-profile situation we've never had this amount of community interaction which is just great, we are very excited about it."

You could get up to $200 for participating. 

For more information:  Trials are being conducted at two local Wayne State University sites: 
•    6071 West Outer Drive, Lourdes Bldg., 4th Floor, L-464, Detroit, MI 48235
•    4201 St. Antoine. Detroit, MI
 
How to enroll and when: Those who have been recently exposed, or are newly diagnosed and have symptoms, can contact Wayne State University and Johns Hopkins at 888-506-1199 or www.covidplasmatrial.org to take the enrollment questionnaire - if too many days pass, they may not qualify to participate. This study is entirely voluntary, and participants will be compensated.