A Treatment for COVID-19: monoclonal antibodies

MARQUETTE – We hear something about COVID–19 infections every day.

We’ve all heard what the experts say can stop the virus.

But what should someone do if they’ve tested positive and want to stay out of the hospital.

One of the ways to do that is with monoclonal antibodies.

The treatment can limit the amount of virus that enters the cells of the human body.

It’s offered people in high–risk groups as part of in the first ten days after onset of symptoms.

And it requires a doctor’s order in advance to be covered under the FDA emergency use authorization.

“Your order by your provider allows you to bypass the ER charge (and) provider charge. You know, all that stuff,” Marquette County Health Department Medical Director Bob Lorinser said. “The other way to get your antibodies is to go to the ER,. I’m  sick. It’s not Monday through Friday, it’s Saturday morning. You know, ‘I have a fever. I have a cough. I have asthma and 60 I don’t think I can wait until Monday.’ They can see you in the emergency room. Now you get a charge the monoclonals are still free and you get treated and you go home that way.”

Lorinser said UPHS-Marquette and UPHS-Bell in Ishpeming are among the locations in the U.P. that offer monoclonal antibody treatments.

Age can be a factor in getting the treatment, but that doesn’t mean younger people can’t ask for it.

“So the easiest one is going over (to your provider) and just say ‘I’m positive, am I eligible,'” Lorinser said.

He said your family doctor will then decide based on emergency use rules, whether you qualify for the antibodies and write an order for the treatment.

To learn more about monoclonal antibody treatments, visit the two websites below.

https://www.cms.gov/medicare/covid-19/monoclonal-antibody-covid-19-infusion

https://www.michigan.gov/coronavirus/0,9753,7-406-98178_106077—,00.html

cobatcovid.hhs.gov