Frederica Freyberg:
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 & 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.
Gary Dalgaard:
I started hearing little bits about it. Things they were doing in other parts of the country and I thought that would really be cool if we could turn this into a positive and be able to do something.
Marisa Wojcik:
Gary and Gretchen Dalgaard were some of the first few cases of the novel coronavirus in Wisconsin. Gary discovered that having recovered from the COVID-19 disease, the plasma in his blood contained something special.
William Hartman:
The donor, the individual that you take it from, that person has already fought off the virus, so they have an effective antibody in their system.
Marisa Wojcik:
Dr. William Hartman is the lead investigator of the UW Health’s program to bring the plasma of recovered COVID-19 patients to those who are currently suffering from the disease.
William Hartman:
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.
Marisa Wojcik:
Gary donated his plasma last week. And it’s already in the bodies of two patients suffering from COVID-19.
William Hartman:
What we’re doing is giving the patient an immune boost.
Marisa Wojcik:
Studying the effects of his immune boost within others will help the medical world understand the potential of this treatment.
William Hartman:
Can we prevent patients from going on to ventilators? Can we prevent patients from going into the ICU?
Marisa Wojcik:
The Convalescent Plasma Project has grown to 800 hospitals nationwide.
William Hartman:
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.
Marisa Wojcik:
Hundreds more have called, asking if they qualify to donate plasma.
William Hartman:
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.
Gretchen Dalgaard:
There is so little that we regular people can do.
Gary Dalgaard:
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.
Marisa Wojcik:
For “Here & Now,” I’m Marisa Wojcik.
Search Episodes
News Stories from PBS Wisconsin
02/03/25
‘Here & Now’ Highlights: State Rep. Sylvia Ortiz-Velez, Jane Graham Jennings, Chairman Tehassi Hill

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