RedRiver Health and Wellness Center has started its own COVID-19 antibody study, alongside a team of doctors and researchers. The goal of the study is to provide the public and the Utah Department of Health with important data, Dr. Joshua Redd, MS, DABFM, DAAIM, a chiropractic physician said.
“Our whole goal is to get the right data, the most accurate data out there to the general public and to the health department so they can go to town and they can do what they need to do with it,” he said.
Originally, the group took to Facebook writing, “We are heading up Utah’s largest antibody study for Covid-19, if not the largest in the U.S. and it starts Monday.”
The focus of the study has since changed, Dr. Redd said. The group is focusing on patients who may have experienced COVID-19 like symptoms between Oct. 2019- Jan. 2020.
“We are now zeroing in on those individuals who had been sick last year at some point with unique COVID-19 symptoms like blood clotting, headaches, eye pain, coughing up blood, those types of things,” he said.
Preliminary findings should be presented next week, Dr. Redd said.
“This is huge. We have research and information and evidence of some pretty incredible thing,” he said.
The study is being headed by RedRiver Health and Wellness alongside several experts are working together beyond the wellness center.
“I have a lot of doctors from a lot of different professions that are helping. Some to highlight would be a Harvard research fellow that is helping, an immunologist and also have a pharmacist whose specialization is anticoagulation,” Dr. Redd said.
While Dr. Redd is a chiropractic physician, he wants people to understand he has extensive knowledge and experience with antibody testing.
“I teach immunology across the country; I teach blood chemistry across the country. I’ve been dealing with antibodies for the last 10 years,” he said.
Intermountain Healthcare released this statement in regards to antibody testing:
“COVID-19 antibody testing is being offered broadly across the U.S., but most tests have not been carefully scrutinized by the FDA. Companies are rushing to make antibody tests available as soon as possible. At Intermountain we are deliberately evaluating all of the different options to ensure we use the most ideal test.
At this early stage of test development, antibody tests have numerous limitations and unknowns. If a person has a positive antibody testing result, we don’t know if that results in immunity to subsequent COVID-19 infections. We’re still unraveling that science. Even if a person has COVID-19 antibodies, they should still continue to practice social distancing. Positive antibody results should not provide people with a false sense of security.
Antibody testing can be helpful to better understand the full scale the pandemic has had on our population. Future studies are needed so we can understand if a positive test equals immunity and if so, for how long.”
RedRiver Health and Wellness is not charging for the test, but the lab where blood is drawn will bill people’s insurance, Dr. Redd said. People who do not have insurance can pay out of pocket. While the study is focused on people with symptoms between Oct. 2019- Jan. 2020, Dr. Redd said anyone can sign up for the test they may just have to wait longer.
For more information on the study, click here.