Serena Williams wins easily on 1st day of Australian Open

126408763_web1_LB-02082021-LOB-1933

Look Back: Oriental rug dealer saved historic Nathan Denison House

I hope this weekend brought you some enjoyment.

Whether you took advantage of the stunning Saturday that broke up our wintery monotony in Northeastern Pennsylvania or you enjoyed a good meal and a good football game on Super Bowl Sunday, I hope you found a way to squeeze some fun out of this weekend while also keeping your outdoor adventures or indoor festivities safe.

I promised you some heart-related topics this American Heart Month, and I intend to deliver, but I will take a short detour this week to address a COVID-19 topic that has recently gotten a bit overlooked among all the (warranted) talk about COVID-19 vaccines:

<strong>Effective therapy </strong>

Monoclonal antibodies are a therapy for COVID-19 that have received emergency use authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The authorization is different from an approval. It means monoclonal antibodies have been found safe and effective enough to use in a limited capacity while research continues.

Monoclonal antibodies are proteins made in a laboratory that act just like the proteins our body’s immune system creates to fight harmful foreign cells and agents like viruses. These intruders are called antigens.

The therapy has been utilized for decades in treating various diseases, including cancer. Now, it’s being used in the fight against the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 infection. Administered by intravenous infusion to patients with COVID-19 who are at high risk of severe illness, early use of monoclonal antibodies has shown promising results.

What’s unique about monoclonal antibodies is they are among a few new treatments available for people with COVID-19 before they are sick enough to be hospitalized. Pharmaceutical companies Regeneron and Eli Lilly currently have monoclonal antibody treatments approved for use, and both companies have reported their therapy helps prevent hospitalizations from COVID-19.

That reduction of hospitalizations is important for the obvious reason that it means fewer severely ill people in our country, but it also leads to less strain on hospitals and healthcare workers, which means healthier, more abundant workforces ready to take care of our communities.

While not conclusive, preliminary research suggests monoclonal antibodies could be effective against COVID-19 variants as well.

<strong>Who is eligible? </strong>

Currently, supply is limited, and monoclonal antibodies are being administered to patients with the greatest chance of benefiting from the treatment.

Patients must be in the early stages of COVID-19 infection and not hospitalized, and they must meet specific criteria for eligibility, including:

• Patient is 65 or older and/or

• Is at high risk of severe illness (e.g., having a chronic medical condition like diabetes, chronic kidney disease or COPD)

• Patient is within 10 days of a COVID-19 diagnosis

• Patient has moderate to severe symptoms

It’s important to note that few side effects were reported during clinical trials for monoclonal antibodies. But among the few reported, the most common were nausea, diarrhea, dizziness, headache, skin irritation and vomiting.

And while monoclonal antibodies are a promising tactic in the battle against COVID-19, supplies are extremely limited. It’s vital that everyone in our community continue to wear their mask, wash their hands, and stay at least six feet away from anyone who lives outside their household.

COVID-19 treatment continues to improve