St. Louis, MO (KTRS) An area researcher believes a hundred-year-old idea could help reduce the severity of Coronavirus symptoms in critically-ill patients.

While not intended to be a vaccine or a cure, Dr. Jeffrey Henderson at Washington University’s School of Medicine says the procedure could ease the symptoms.

The process involves removing plasma from someone who beat the virus, creating a serum, then injecting it into an infected patient.

The idea was used to combat the Spanish Flu of 1918, and works on the notion that the plasma will transfer antibodies that can recognize and fight the virus. The FDA has approved the procedure. Doctors hope to begin trials in New York as soon as next week.