Louisville, Ky., August 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – Norton Healthcare is one of the first in the country to examine convalescent plasma as a remedy to save high-risk patients with COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus, from becoming seriously ill. Convalescence plasma is extracted from donated blood through fully recovered COVID-19 patients. The purpose is to find out if plasma can help prevent those other people from feeling sicker and requiring treatment, as well as being placed under a ventilator.
“This is exciting because we seek to provide early intervention to prevent coVID-19 progression,” said Joseph M. Flynn, DO, MPH, FACP, senior test researcher and chief executive of Norton Medical Group and official medical leader, Norton Cancer Institute. “This has wonderful implications for long-term care services and for many others in danger who remain in a delicate situation.
To be eligible for the clinical trial, inpatients who are positive for COVID-19 should be considered as a maximum threat and have markers of inflammation in their blood tests. A patient is considered to be at maximum threat if he or she is over 65 years of age or an underlying medical condition, in addition to cancer, cardiovascular disease, lung disorders, or high blood pressure. Possibly also candidates who have been using tobacco lately. In terms of efficacy, researchers will read about adjustments in respiratory rate, blood oxygen saturation, antibody grades opposed to SARS-CoV-2, and adjustments in blood tests.
It is funded through a $50,000 grant from the Norton Healthcare Foundation. This is the first time Norton Healthcare has started a clinical trial presented through researchers and approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
In the Louisville, Kentucky area, Norton Healthcare was the first to take a component in a clinical trial to compare the use of convalescent plasma to help critically ill patients. More than 160 patients have gained plasma since April as a component of this study. It is part of a larger expanded access study from the Mayo Clinic that did not evolve to read about the efficacy of plasma, but to help patients and collect data.
This initial test laid the groundwork for this new test with knowledge collection in mind. Norton Healthcare has developed a plasma donor recovery program, which has allowed the organization to adopt this new study. The program is also used through plasma collection centers throughout the country.
“We had a well-developed procedure to contact patients who had recovered from COVID-19; and because of his willingness to donate his plasma, we must begin this essay,” Dr Flynn said. “We continue to work with potential donors and hope that in combination we will save the lives of many others and avoid a serious illness.”
Normally, it takes months to open the trials.
Norton Healthcare is the first in the world to enroll patients with COVID-19 in 3 clinical trials. These are for selinexor, APL-9 and acalabrutinib medications.
Norton Healthcare is helping bring new medical advances to our network and fitnesscare professionals and patients around the world. During the first quarter of 2020, studies had more than 1,000 studies of active and waiting clinical studies supporting a full diversity of physical care services, and 11 pending studies were added to combat COVID-19.
Norton Healthcare’s clinical trial program is the most physically powerful network fitness care program in the Louisville area and southern Indiana, and has been instrumental in the progress of many medications and medical devices. In addition to COVID-19, Norton Healthcare clinical trials include emerging remedies for cancer, cardiovascular problems, neurological conditions, orthopedic conditions, maternal and fetal medicine, and more.
About Norton Healthcare
Norton Healthcare is a leader serving adult and pediatric patients in the Louisville metropolitan area, southern Indiana, the state of Kentucky and beyond. The nonprofit hospital and fitness formula is Louisville’s fourth-largest employer, with more than 16,500 employees, more than 1,500 medical providers and approximately 2,000 physicians in total on your medical staff. The formula includes five hospitals with 1,837 authorized beds, seven outpatient centers, 16 Norton immediate care centers, 8 Norton Prompt Care centers in Walgreens, and an expanded telefitness program. It provides care at more than 250 sites in Kentucky and southern Indiana. Hospitals provide general and outpatient hospital care, as well as specialized care, adding cardiac, neuroscientific, cancer, orthopedic, female, and pediatric services. A robust curriculum provides access to clinical trials in a multitude of areas. In 2019, Norton Healthcare was named by more fitness employers as the fifth most fitness office in the country. More data can be obtained in NortonHealthcare.com.