The University of Chicago Medicine is launching a clinical trial to study whether blood plasma from people who have recovered from COVID-19 can be used to treat patients who are still in the hospital with severe disease symptoms.
The trial will recruit plasma donors from existing UChicago Medicine patients and from other people in Chicago who have tested positive and recovered from COVID-19. These plasma donations will be used to treat patients currently hospitalized at UChicago Medicine. The initial study will investigate only the safety and feasibility of procedures for identifying donors, collecting plasma donations and administering transfusions. Further study of the effectiveness of such a treatment will require additional trials.
