Portsmouth Regional Hospital Now Offering Antibody Infusion Treatment Against COVID
I really hope between this and the vaccination, that we are starting to steady our feet and fight back strongly against COVID. Because this sounds like such a positive thing -- we've already lost way too many people to this disease, so this is at least a glimmer of light in the dark pandemic tunnel we've been stuck in for a while how.
According to WMUR, Portsmouth Regional Hospital is now offering a therapy to battle COVID that is already active in patience through antibody infusion. What the monoclonal antibodies do once introduced into the positive patient's body (if I understand this right) is basically surround the COVID and prevent it from getting into the cells, which infects the person on a whole different level obviously.
The antibody infusion is reserved for patients who test positive and are suffering mild to moderate symptoms and basically heading down the road to hospitalization. It sounds like it's a pretty quick and easy procedure of treatment, too -- it's just a one-time, outpatient IV treatment.
The Chief Medical Officer at Portsmouth Regional, Dr. Thomas Wold, told WMUR that anyone positive patient should consult their primary care physician about the antibody therapy within 10 days of contracting COVID, so they have the best chance and timeline for the infusion to work. Obviously, the ideal situation would for this to be 100% effective, but Dr. Wold said that there's still a chance that the virus could spread regardless of what's done.
Still though, the fact that there's even a CHANCE now that there's something that can be done to try and prevent hospitalization for patients who are getting hit pretty hard by COVID is huge. In fact, I found out yesterday that one of my friends from Tulsa who tested positive along with her cousin, actually just had her parents both come down with symptoms and have serious issues breathing, and both were admitted to the hospital.
So, even though Dr. Wold said that there's still a chance that the virus could spread, at least now there's a chance that it couldn't, and patients now could have a better chance of surviving and fighting off the virus. Dr. Wold DID say that the best course of treatment/defense right now is to get vaccinated, but again, having this option for those who have already gotten hit with COVID now is such a plus.
AND the best part? Other local hospitals like Frisbie Memorial Hospital in Rochester and Parkland Medical Center in Derry can both refer patients to Portsmouth Regional for the treatment, so it's not like it's ONLY for Portsmouth Regional patients.
We're going to win this. It's going to be a BATTLE (and already has been), but we're going to win this.