>> THIS WEEK SOME POSITIVE NEWS
% IN THE FIGHT AGAINST COVID-19.
% THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN HAS
% JOINED A NATIONWIDE EFFORT TO
% HELP PEOPLE HOSPITALIZED WITH
% CORONAVIRUS.
% AS "HERE AND NOW" REPORTER
% MARISA WOJCIK SHOWS YOU, THEY
% ARE TAKING PLASMA FROM A MADISON
% PATIENT WHO HAS RECOVERED TO
% BENEFIT PEOPLE STILL SERIOUSLY
% ILL WITH THE DISEASE.
% >> I STARTED HEARING ABOUT IT
% AND I THOUGHT THAT WOULD BE COOL
% IF WE COULD TURN THIS INTO A
% POSITIVE.
% >> THE PLASMA IN HIS BLOOD
% CONTAINED SOMETHING SPECIAL.
% >> THE INDIVIDUAL THAT YOU TAKE
% IT FROM, THAT PERSON HAS ALREADY
% FOUGHT OFF THE VIRUS, SO THEY
% HAVE AN EFFECTIVE ANTIBODY IN
% THEIR SYSTEM.
% >> DR. WILLIAM HARTMAN IS THE
% LEADING INVESTIGATOR TO BRING
% THE PLASMA OF RECOVERED COVID-19
% PATIENTS TO THOSE WHO ARE
% CURRENTLY SUFFERING FROM THE
% DISEASE.
% >> SO THIS IS A TECHNIQUE THAT
% ACTUALLY DATES BACK OVER 100
% YEARS.
% IT WAS USED TO TREAT DIPHTHERIA,
% SPANISH FLU.
% IT'S BEEN USED IN OTHER
% CORONAVIRUSES, LIKE MERS AND
% SARS.
% >> GARY DONATED HIS PLASMA LAST
% WEEK.
% >> WHAT WE'RE DOING IS GIVING
% THE PATIENT AN IMMUNE BOOST.
% >> STUDYING THE EFFECTS OF HIS
% IMMUNE BOOST WITHIN OTHERS WILL
% HELP THE MEDICAL WORLD
% UNDERSTAND THE POTENTIAL OF THIS
% TREATMENT.
% >> CAN WE PREVENT PATIENTS FROM
% GOING ON TO VENTILATORS?
% CAN WE PREVENT THEM FROM GOING
% INTO THE ICU?
% >> THE PROJECT HAS GROWN TO 800
% HOSPITALS NATIONWIDE.
% >> THIS, BECAUSE IT'S A
% MEANINGFUL STUDY, I THINK REALLY
% WILL ALLOW US TO COME TO A
% CONCLUSION AS TO WHETHER OR NOT
% IT'S EFFECTIVE AND SAFE AND THEN
% WE CAN SPREAD WORLDWIDE TO TREAT
% AS MANY PEOPLE AS WE CAN.
% >> HUNDREDS MORE HAVE CALLED,
% ASKING IF THEY QUALIFY TO DONATE
% PLASMA.
% >> THE FACT THAT THE COMMUNITY
% HAS BEEN SO TREMENDOUS AND
% FORTHCOMING WITH THEIR DONATIONS
% MEANS THAT WE SHOULD HAVE PLASMA
% AVAILABLE TO ANY PATIENT THAT
% NEEDS IT.
% >> THERE IS SO LITTLE THAT WE
% REGULAR PEOPLE CAN DO.
% >> WE'VE BEEN SITTING HERE IN
% THE HOUSE FOR FIVE WEEKS AND
% WATCHING ALL THE HEROIC THINGS
% THAT OTHERS ARE DOING OUT THERE
% AND FEELING JUST TOTALLY
% HELPLESS.
% AND THIS WAS A CHANCE FOR US TO
% DO SOMETHING.
% >> FOR "HERE AND NOW," I'M
% MARISA WOJCIK.