The coronavirus is continuing its mutation and coming up with new variants. It is essential to find suitable treatment options to fight the virus in this situation. Even though vaccination is a good process to avoid the infection in the first place, it is also important to focus on treatment options as they help those who are not vaccinated to recover from the infection. It is important to note that the Omicron variant has invaded virus protection, and people who have taken both doses of vaccines are also infected in this wave.
Covid Treatment – Monoclonal Antibodies Still Offer Hope?
Considering this situation, researchers are still working on a host of treatment options, including monoclonal antibody therapy. This is effective in treating covid patients, and it has shown promising results in the past. In the early stages of the pandemic, such treatments were the only hope for Covid patients as the vaccines were still not ready for the virus.
In monoclonal antibody therapy, the proteins that bind to the Covid virus are produced in the lab and given in the form of medication. In this way, the virus will not be able to attach itself to the cells in our body. This worked very well with the initial variants of Covid-19. However, as the virus continued its mutation, some treatments that worked well earlier were no longer effective in Covid patients.
Treatment options like REGEN-COV were very effective in the first wave of the pandemic, and they helped many people to recover from the infection. However, it is not that effective against the new variants of Covid 19.
As Omicron accounts for more than 98% of the infections in this current wave, this treatment is a good option for Covid infected patients.
The FDA has also given emergency use authorization for EvuShield, which is good at preventing infection among high-risk people. Even though this is not a vaccine, it works well to prevent infection in those people who are not able to get the required immunity from vaccines. Some people are allergic to vaccines, and they cannot get protection through conventional methods. In this situation, EvuShield works well to protect them from infection.
Sotrivimab is very effective in case of mild infection, and it can be used in patients over the age of 12. Apart from that, it is important to understand that this is not suitable for hospitalized patients or those under oxygen support.
EvoShield is effective for people with a weak immune system, and it is suitable for people over the age of 12 and who have less response to Covid vaccines. Apart from that, it can also be used on patients who cannot get vaccinated due to medical reasons.
The FDA has also authorized two oral antiviral pills to counter Covid 19. Molnupiravir and Paxlovid are effective in treating patients with mild Covid symptoms. Along with that, even Remdesivir can be effectively used for some patients.
Depending on the overall health condition of the patient, the doctors will decide which option is suited for the treatment. While some patients respond well to antiviral pills, others report better results with monoclonal antibody therapy. In whatever case, it is always a good idea to avoid the infection in the first place.
For this, vaccination is the only weapon we have at the moment. As of now, close to 40% of the adult population in the US is still not vaccinated, and this gap has to be filled in the next few months to avoid another big wave of pandemics.
