Scientists in the UK are testing a new antibody treatment with the potential to give people instant immunity after exposure to Covid-19 and disease prevention.
The drug would provide immediate and long-term protection to patients when it is too late to provide a vaccine, potentially saving thousands of lives.
It could be given as an emergency treatment to hospitalized patients, home residents and university students to help reduce the spread of the virus.
People living with someone who has had COVID or been exposed to it could be injected with the medicine to stop their infection, even if they did not have a coronavirus vaccine.
British scientists at University College London Hospitals NHS (UCLH) have already injected ten people with drugs as part of the new process called Storm Chaser, with the aim of testing the new treatment on 1,125 people globally. Participants received two consecutive doses of the drug.
They hope that the treatment will provide protection against Covid-19 between six months and a year.
A new antibody treatment with the potential to give people instant immunity after being exposed to Covid-19 and prevent disease is being tested by scientists in the UK. Image above a patient at a hospital in Houston, Texas
UCLH scientists have also begun a second clinical trial called Provent to examine the use of the antibody for people who may not be vaccinated, such as patients with compromised immune systems or those at high risk. of Covid-19 infection due to factors such as age and existing conditions.
UCLH injected the ten people – including medical staff and university students – as part of the Storm Chaser trial at its new vaccine research center, after the study entered its third phase on December 2nd.
Key groups in the process include health workers, students living in shared accommodation, and patients who have recently been exposed to anyone with Covid-19, as well as those in long-term care, the military and industry personnel, such as factory workers.
In the first study, the antibody, known as AZD7442, was developed by the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, which also created a vaccine with Oxford University, which is awaiting approval for use by the Medicines and Medicines Regulatory Agency ( MHRA).
Meanwhile, the elderly and long-term caregivers, as well as people with conditions such as cancer and HIV, will be recruited to participate in the Provent process.
Dr. Catherine Houlihan, a UCLH virologist who leads the Storm Chaser trial, said: “We know that this combination of antibodies can neutralize the virus, so we hope to find that administering this injection treatment can lead to immediate protection against the development of Covid- 19 to people who have been exposed – when it is too late to provide a vaccine.
Dr. Houlihan said the treatment would be an “interesting addition” to the efforts tested and developed to fight the corovavirus, reports The Guardian.
“If we can prove that this treatment works and prevent people who are exposed to the virus from developing Covid-19, it would be an interesting addition to the arsenal of weapons developed to fight this terrible virus,” she said.
UCLH infectious disease consultant Dr. Nicky Longley, who runs Provent University, said: “We want to reassure anyone that a vaccine may not work that we can offer an equally protective alternative.”
Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia and an expert on infectious diseases, said the new treatment in the Storm Chaser trial could save thousands of lives.
“If you are dealing with outbreaks in settings such as nursing homes or if you have patients who are at high risk for severe Covid, such as the elderly, then this could save a lot of lives. Provided it is confirmed in phase 3 trials, it could play an important role in keeping people who would otherwise die alive. So it should be an important thing, ‘he said.
“If you have had an outbreak in a care home, you may want to use this type of antibody cocktail to control the outbreak as soon as possible, offering the medicine to everyone in the care home – residents and staff – who they have not ”He was vaccinated.
“Similarly, if you live with your elderly grandmother and you or someone else in the house gets infected, then you could give her that to protect her.”
The potential breakthrough in instant immune treatment is welcome news in the United States and around the world, with nearly 119,000 Americans spending Christmas in hospital with COVID-19 and 1,541 deaths.
But according to the COVID follow-up project, 20 states did not provide any updates on Friday, which means that the true number of deaths nationwide could be much higher.
While general hospitalizations fell to 118,948 on Friday, after setting a new record of 120,151 the day before, the seven-day average rose to a new high, once again on Christmas Day, reaching 117,029.
On Friday, 124,498 new cases were reported, but the COVID follow-up project warned that the data had been affected by the holiday closures.
The average of seven days for hospitalizations rose to a new high on Christmas Day, reaching 117,029, as almost 1119,000 patients with COVID-19 spent their holidays in hospital.
Nationally, there were more than 18.7 million Americans infected with coronavirus and 330,246 deaths.
Among the states that did not provide any updates on new cases and deaths on Friday was California, where the outbreak has already brought the health system to a breaking point, after reporting 300,000 new cases last week.
Earlier this week, it became the first state to exceed two million cases, with experts remaining concerned about a potential additional increase caused by Christmas and New Year’s travel.