Windsor-Essex has been selected to take part in cutting edge trials to help COVID-19 patients.
The nation-wide trial is focused on injecting antibodies to fight the effects of the virus.
Oncologist and chair of its academic research committee, Dr. Caroline Hamm says eight patients in Windsor have been enrolled in the trial which involves the infusion of the liquid part of the blood containing antibodies.
"It is so exciting for everybody," she says. "I remember in the beginning of the first wave being so upset at the lack of treatment options we had for people. It was just so hard to deal with with people getting sick and us not being able to do anything. Now we have these options of helping them."
According to Dr. Hamm, patients are responding well so far.
"We're lucky in Windsor to be involved, people have done really well," she says. "I was talking to a nurse on the floor that was taking care of a lady who got very ill. We gave her the serum and by the next day she was better. So it seems to be working really rapidly and it looks so promising. We're so excited."
When it comes to how it works, Dr. Hamm says they're using antibodies from people who have had COVID — similar to a vaccination.
"This trial is for 500 people across Canada and I think we're probably about half way there," se says, "It's like anything else, the more ways you have to battle anything the better position you're going to be in. So once this trial is done we'll know for sure if it's beneficial and we could be able to start just to offer this to people off trial."
More than 65 hospitals are participating in the research which is part of a North American collaboration of physicians, scientists, research coordinators, medical laboratory technologists, blood donors, and patients.