Starting Tuesday, Frederick Health’s Monoclonal Antibody Clinic will again be open for appointments.
Treatments at the clinic were paused late last month due to a shortage of supplies provided by the state, according to a statement previously posted on the health system’s website.
Eligibility requirements at the health system’s clinic remain the same as when Frederick Health scaled up its offering of the treatment in November, Chief Nursing Officer Diane McFarland said in a statement provided by a Frederick Health spokesman.
At the time, Alison Conway, the registered nurse in charge of coordinating the health system’s antibody clinic, said patients must be older than 12 and be considered high risk for developing a serious form of COVID-19 to be eligible for the treatment. Patients may be considered high risk if they are immunocompromised, pregnant, overweight/obese, or if they have been diagnosed with chronic kidney or cardiovascular disease.
Patients must have also tested positive for the virus to be considered eligible.
Research has shown the infusion of monoclonal antibodies to be very successful at keeping high-risk patients out of the hospital and lessening their symptoms. The treatment is most effective if delivered to patients who have had coronavirus symptoms for 10 days or less.
Monoclonal antibodies work by attaching to the spike protein that sticks out of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, blocking the virus’ ability to enter cells and slowing down the infection.
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