UNC Health workers are invited to participate in COVID-19 drug trial

Workers at UNC Health are eligible to participate in a clinical trial to see whether the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine works to prevent COVID-19.

The trial is part of the HERO (Healthcare Worker Exposure Response & Outcomes) Program being coordinated by Duke University. The research is being funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute.

HERO is a two-part program, a registry where workers sign up to participate in surveys and report on their experiences, and the clinical trial. Workers who want to participate in the trial must go through the HERO registry, according to a UNC Health news release. The program will involve a national network of healthcare systems.

The registry is open to anyone who works in an area where people receive care. Food service workers, nurses, doctors, and others are eligible.

President Donald Trump has been pushing the anti-malarial drug as a treatment for COVID-19, though it has not been proven to work. The FDA issued an emergency use authorization to allow anti-malaria drugs from the national strategic stockpile to be used to treat COVID-19 patients.

About 15,000 healthcare workers will participate in the HERO trial to determine whether hydroxychloroquine is better than a placebo in preventing coronavirus infections over 30 days.

The UNC Health system is hoping to recruit 375 participants.

“Participants are not required to provide direct patient care, but must work in settings that put them at higher risk for COVID-19 exposure,” Dr. Ross Boyce, assistant professor of medicine and UNC’s principal investigator, said in a statement.

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This story was originally published April 16, 2020 at 5:58 PM with the headline "UNC Health workers are invited to participate in COVID-19 drug trial."