According to research conducted at UVA Health, among 186 individuals who received Regeneron Pharmaceuticals’ antibody cocktail and were subsequently exposed to COVID as part of the company’s phase 3 clinical trial, none developed symptomatic cases of COVID; eight members of a placebo group who were exposed to COVID developed symptomatic infections. That’s not the only good news to come from the new study, however; read on to discover what the new research says. And if you want to protect yourself, know that If You Live in These States, You Can Get Vaccinated at Walgreens Next Week. While none of the study participants who received the antibody cocktail developed symptomatic COVID, a few cases of asymptomatic infection still occurred. Among the study participants given the antibody cocktail, 15 developed asymptomatic COVID, versus 23 in the placebo group. However, among the antibody recipients who developed asymptomatic COVID, infections typically lasted less than seven days, and patients’ viral load was lower than that of COVID patients who received the placebo. And for the latest on coronavirus, The CDC Director Just Said This COVID Precaution Isn’t Necessary.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb As COVID vaccines are being disseminated throughout the U.S. and abroad, concerns over viral shedding—the period of time during which the virus continues to replicate in a person’s body—has become hot button issue among medical experts. According to a Jan. 5 article published in Nature Reviews Immunology, the existing COVID vaccines approved for use “do not prevent viral shedding.” While the Regeneron antibody cocktail didn’t completely prevent viral shedding either, it did significantly lessen its duration. Among those who received the antibody cocktail, the viral shedding period was nine weeks, and in the group that received the placebo, viral shedding continued for 44 weeks, a difference that could lessen the period during which antibody recipients could potentially infect others. And before you make your next move, You May Soon Need a COVID Vaccine To Do This, Officials Say. While any medication can have side effects, members of the Regeneron study’s treatment group actually had fewer post-treatment symptoms than those who received a placebo. Among those who received the antibody cocktail, just 12 percent reported side effects, while 18 percent of the placebo group reported the same. And for the latest COVID news delivered straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter. Though a spokesperson for UVA Health noted that the antibody cocktail “is not expected to provide permanent immunity” against COVID, the treatment could have some profound implications for those caring for COVID patients. “This is the first treatment shown to prevent COVID-19 after a known exposure, and offers protection for unvaccinated individuals caring for a family member with COVID-19,” explained lead author William Petri Jr., MD, PhD, a Wade Hampton Frost Professor of Medicine and Vice Chair for Research of the Department of Medicine at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. “We expect that Regeneron will file for emergency use authorization from the FDA so that this drug can be used outside of the context of a clinical trial.” And if you want to play it safe, Dr. Fauci Just Said to Avoid Doing This One Thing This Week.
