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State-funded COVID-19 monoclonal antibody infusion center opens in Fort Worth
Tarrant County is now offering special treatment for people with COVID-19 who are not yet seriously enough to be hospitalized.
FORT WORTH, Texas – Tarrant County is now offering special treatment for people with COVID-19 who are not yet seriously enough to be hospitalized.
Regeneron, a monoclonal antibody treatment, is available free from the state at a new infusion center at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth.
It’s the same treatment former President Donald Trump and Texas Governor Greg Abbott received after testing positive for COVID-19.
RELATED: Texas Governor Greg Abbott receives infusions of monoclonal antibodies
Patients must be referred by a physician and be at least 12 years old to receive the IV infusion of monoclonal antibodies. The goal is to limit the number of people who end up in already crowded hospitals.
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The state’s chief epidemiologist, Dr Jennifer Shuford, explained some logistics.
“Most people will get this through an intravenous infusion. So they take the mixture of antibodies and put it in a bag of saline and steep it for about an hour,” she explained. “And then people have to be watched for about an hour afterward just to make sure they don’t have side effects from the drug.”
The Fort Worth site can treat 90 patients per day who must first meet one of the following medical criteria:
- Older age (for example, age ≥ 65 years)
- Obesity or overweight (for example, BMI> 25 kg / m2)
- Pregnancy
- Chronic kidney disease, diabetes or immunosuppressive disease
- Currently receiving immunosuppressive therapy
- Cardiovascular disease or hypertension
- Chronic lung diseases
- Sickle cell anemia
- Neurodevelopmental disorders
- Have a technological dependence related to medicine
- High-risk ethnic groups (Latino or black)
Another important thing to note is that this is not a walk-in situation. Patients must have a medical referral.
“This referral can come from a primary care physician, it can come from a hospital emergency room or a stand-alone emergency room. There are many ways for a person diagnosed with COVID to be referred to the infusion center, ”said Shuford. “This treatment is specifically intended for outpatients for people who have not arrived to the point of requiring hospitalization.”
Early treatment can reduce a person’s risk of hospitalization and death by 85%.
“The opening of the infusion center is a great tool to help reduce the load on overcrowded hospitals in Tarrant County and DFW,” said Dr Catherine Colquitt of the Tarrant County Public Health Authority.
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