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MURRAY, Utah – As COVID-19 rises again across the country, researchers at Intermountain Healthcare have discovered a treatment that reduces serious illness and hospitalizations.
Since December, they have been successfully treating high-risk patients with monoclonal antibodies.
Intermountain doctors found that treating these patients with monoclonal antibodies reduced serious illness and hospitalizations by more than 50%. It also saved many patients from dying from complications from the virus.
“These products are most effective when targeted early in the course,” said Dr. Brandon Webb, infectious disease physician and chair of the COVID Therapeutics Committee at Intermountain Healthcare.
Monoclonal antibodies are an infusion therapy given to patients before they are hospitalized, he said, adding that they are designed to stick and neutralize the virus.
“They’re modeled on the body’s natural response to viruses, and they work best when given very early in the course of symptoms, when the active virus is at its peak,” Webb said.
Webb said it was within seven days of the onset of symptoms.
“Taken in the context of the current pandemic, these results are very encouraging,” said the doctor. “They point out that this is really an important tool for treating patients early on, from the onset of their symptoms.”
That’s why, he said, getting tested when you have symptoms of COVID is still so important.
The Intermountain Healthcare study, published in Open Forum on Infectious Diseases, administered monoclonal antibody treatments to 600 patients and compared them to a control group of several thousand patients.
Only one percent had an infusion-related reaction, the vast majority of which was minor.
Even more encouraging, said Webb, the treatment has kept high-risk patients out of the hospital.
Patients who already have COVID-19 antibodies are less likely to benefit from them.
“Patients who are not vaccinated, who are at high risk, and who are very early in the course are the patients most likely to get the most benefit from monoclonal therapy,” Webb said.
The infectious disease doctor stressed that vaccination remains the most effective tool against COVID-19.
With the wave of delta variants underway, researchers said more resources were needed to expand treatment for high-risk patients.
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