New York Hospitals Will Conduct Clinical Study With Covid-19 Survivors | WORLD

Three hospitals in New York conduct a clinical study to determine whether convalescent plasma from survivors of the Covid-19including members of the Young Israel Synagogue in New Rochelle, where the first cases occurred, could help patients with the virus.

The Montefiore, a system of eleven hospitals; the Albert Einstein School of Medicine, which is included in that network, and the NYU Langone Hospital reported on this joint investigation in which 300 people with respiratory symptoms of Covid-19 will participate.

Half of the participants will receive plasma with antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, while the rest will receive a placebo, the health centers explained in a joint statement.

The first donors of convalescent plasma from Montefiore come from the Young Israel Synagogue in New Rochelle, the community that hosted one of the largest cores of Covid-19 cases in the country and that “now represent a ray of hope,” according to the hospitals.

Candidates for the clinical trial will be patients who have had respiratory symptoms for less than a week; who require supplemental oxygen or have been in the hospital for less than four days, the note says.

The hospitals They recalled that the body’s immune response to virus infections includes the manufacture of molecules called antibodies, which potentially serve to prevent patients from being re-infected in the future.

They could also constitute an effective therapy to combat the virus in Covid-19 patients, they say in the statement.

They further explain that this treatment, known as convalescent plasma therapy, has already been applied in the last century during outbreaks of viral infections and has demonstrated its potential both in reducing the most severe symptoms of the disease and in improving survival rates.

“We created this study from evidence of the so-called pre-antibiotic era, but there is still no scientific evidence that it will be really effective,” said Dr. Liise-anne Pirofski, director of Infectious Diseases at Montefiore and Albert Einstein and leader of the Covid-19 Convalescent Plasma Project, as this research is called.

“Having so many cured people willing to donate their plasma and make this research possible to help others they have never met, represents a true celebration of the human spirit,” Pirofski said.

Previous studies suggest that survivor plasma may be a useful treatment for other cases of coronavirus, including SARS, but this trial aims to generate evidence that it is effective for Covid-19 patients.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Montefiore system has treated and successfully discharged approximately 4,000 seriously ill Covid-19 patients at its hospitals.

This represents a great opportunity to obtain plasma from former patients and apply their antibodies to the treatment of a community disproportionately affected by the virus, the hospitals also indicate.

“It is possible that there are no vaccines available for more than a year. Meanwhile, and in the absence of natural immunity and vaccines, plasma therapy could provide the body with the necessary elements to fight infection,” said the doctor. Mila Ortigoza of NYU Langone, also a lead on the investigation.

“Infections that jump from animals to humans, like the new coronavirus, are dangerous because we don’t have antibodies to fight them; hence our interest in knowing if administering them could save lives ”, he indicated.

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