Monoclonal antibody infusion treatment helps COVID-19 patients

With the increase of COVID cases nationwide and here on the Coast, Memorial Hospital in Gulfport has leaned on the help of a treatment that wasn’t available this time last year.

“I will definitely give this variant credit. This is 2020 amplified big time. It really is.”

This time last year, the primary treatment for COVID-19 patients was to wait and let the virus run its course, occasionally using antibiotics, inhalers, or oral steroids.

As COVID cases are on the rise on the Coast, medical professionals and Mississippi State officials have pushed the use of monoclonal antibody infusion for patients. Dr. Thomas Dobbs said, “We still are trying to recommend that anybody who’s diagnosed with COVID please talk to your doctor or clinic or provider about the utility of monoclonal antibodies to keep you safe if you get COVID. Even if you’ve been vaccinated, even if you’ve had COVID before, if you get diagnosed with active COVID please talk to your doctor about monoclonal antibody treatment because it could save your life.”

Since January, Memorial has included monoclonal antibody transfusion as part of the hospital’s treatment for COVID-19 patients. Memorial Nurse Practitioner Jillian Strayham said, “Monoclonal antibodies is a medication that has been made in a lab. It is supposed to be a replica of the antibodies your body naturally develops after being exposed to COVID. These antibodies that we are infusing, it offers about in 85 percent rate at reducing your risk of hospitalization, reducing the severity of your symptoms and reducing the viral load in your body that you expose other people to.”

Currently, Memorial is infusing 100 patients a day. Within 48 hours, the hospital hopes to increase its infusion capacity to 150 patients per day.

The treatment, including the infusion and the observation following it, takes about two-and-a-half hours and patients only require the treatment once. “I can honestly tell you that with the antibody infusion, I have had every patient tell me it was a night and day difference with their symptoms.”

As of Tuesday, Memorial has 80 patients hospitalized with COVID, 17 of which are in the ICU and 13 of those patients are on ventilators. “We’re still having the same issue with resources as far as staffing goes, except I can honestly say I am a little more hopeful with this variant because of this infusion.”