Brooksville, Fla. — Bayfront Health Brooksville is now offering the monoclonal antibody therapies Regeneron and Bamlanivimab for the treatment of some cases of COVID-19.
“Monoclonal antibody therapy is used to treat patients with COVID-19 symptoms who are at high risk for developing severe and life threatening illness. The antibody infusion may lessen the severity of the illness and help keep at risk patients out of the hospital,” said Michael Baehr M.D., Medical Director of Bayfront Health Medical Group.
Monoclonal antibody therapy is approved for patients with positive results of direct SARS-CoV-2 viral testing, with mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms, who are at high-risk for progressing to severe COVID-19 and/or hospitalization. This drug is not for people who are already in the hospital because of their COVID-19 symptoms, who require oxygen therapy due to COVID-19, or who require an increase in baseline oxygen flow rate due to COVID-19 in those on chronic oxygen therapy due to underlying non-COVID-19 related comorbidity. Patients must be 12 years of age or older, weighing at least 40 kg.
High risk is defined as patients who meet at least one of the following criteria in addition to meeting the previous criteria:
· Age > 65 years of age
· Age > 55 years of age AND have cardiovascular disease, hypertension or COPD
· Body mass index (BMI) > 35
· Chronic Kidney disease
· Diabetes
· Immunosuppressive disease
· Currently receiving immunosuppressive treatment
This antibody infusion is administered at the hospital, but in order to determine qualification, it must be prescribed and scheduled by a patient’s primary care physician or an infectious disease physician. The infusion, a one-time treatment, takes about three hours from start to finish.
“Patients must test positive and then their physician will coordinate with the hospital. Infusion is provided on an outpatient basis only, and patients need to be well enough to recover at home,” said Jason Baldwin, Director of Pharmacy.
For more information visit BayfrontBrooksville.com/covid-19.
