Covid-19’s stop-gap solution until vaccines and antivirals are ready
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Covid-19’s stop-gap solution until vaccines and antivirals are ready
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Re: Covid-19’s stop-gap solution until vaccines and antivirals are ready
#2Could somebody with medical knowledge speak to the lifetime of exogenous antibodies in another person's blood?
And, does their presence in any way "train" the host immune system to make more? Or is the benefit solely from the introduced antibodies?
Re: Covid-19’s stop-gap solution until vaccines and antivirals are ready
#3While viable and potentially lifesaving, the risks associated with this type of treatment are significant and should not be downplayed.
Edit: This is the line I am objecting to: “it can be used for prevention of infection for people who are being exposed or it could be used for therapy for those who are sick.” This is not something to generally be handing out to people after simple exposure. For one thing the benifit is short term.
Re: Covid-19’s stop-gap solution until vaccines and antivirals are ready
#4While viable and potentially lifesaving, the risks associated with this type of treatment are significant and should not be downplayed. Edit: This is the line I am objecting to: “ it can be used for prevention of infection for people who are being exposed or it could be used for therapy for those who are sick.” This is not something to generally be handing out to people after simple exposure. For one thing the benifi…
For example?
Re: Covid-19’s stop-gap solution until vaccines and antivirals are ready
#5While viable and potentially lifesaving, the risks associated with this type of treatment are significant and should not be downplayed. Edit: This is the line I am objecting to: “ it can be used for prevention of infection for people who are being exposed or it could be used for therapy for those who are sick.” This is not something to generally be handing out to people after simple exposure. For one thing the benifi…
Can you please explain? On the surface this all sounds great, then again, on the surface a lot of things sound great.
Especially looking for clarity around this part:
Are there side-effects to using this?
Plasma is very safe. It is screened for bloodborne pathogens and blood typed so you don't have a transfusion reaction. Blood transfusion is one of the most regulated industries in the United States. It's one of the safest things available.
Re: Covid-19’s stop-gap solution until vaccines and antivirals are ready
#6While viable and potentially lifesaving, the risks associated with this type of treatment are significant and should not be downplayed. Edit: This is the line I am objecting to: “ it can be used for prevention of infection for people who are being exposed or it could be used for therapy for those who are sick.” This is not something to generally be handing out to people after simple exposure. For one thing the benifi…
For example?
You’re injecting blood products from another person so catching some other deadly disease is a real risk. Plasma is tested for AIDS and several other diseases, but prions for example are much harder to detect. Further, when you consider the risk of someone messing up on the supply side that opens up a host of issues.
Re: Covid-19’s stop-gap solution until vaccines and antivirals are ready
#7Could somebody with medical knowledge speak to the lifetime of exogenous antibodies in another person's blood? And, does their presence in any way "train" the host immune system to make more? Or is the benefit solely from the introduced antibodies?
The half-life of exogenous antibodies is around one month:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3183495/
The benefit is solely from the antibodies attacking and reducing the level of virus in the body, it does NOT induce an immune response from the body (though that will happen anyway as the body mounts it's normal immune response to the virus)
Re: Covid-19’s stop-gap solution until vaccines and antivirals are ready
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
For example?
You’re injecting blood products from another person so catching some other deadly disease is a real risk. Plasma is tested for AIDS and several other diseases, but prions for example are much harder to detect. Further, when you consider the risk of someone messing up on the supply side that opens up a host of issues.
That’s why there is comprehensive screening of donated blood which has essentially eliminated pathogen transfer and it’s used en masse everyday.
Re: Covid-19’s stop-gap solution until vaccines and antivirals are ready
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
You’re injecting blood products from another person so catching some other deadly disease is a real risk. Plasma is tested for AIDS and several other diseases, but prions for example are much harder to detect. Further, when you consider the risk of someone messing up on the supply side that opens up a host of issues.
That’s why there is comprehensive screening of donated blood which has essentially eliminated pathogen transfer and it’s used en masse everyday.
Screening is not perfect. https://www.redcrossblood.org/faq.html#eligibility-medicaltr...
“ You may not donate if you received a blood transfusion since 1980 in the United Kingdom or France (The United Kingdom consists of the following countries: England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, Gibraltar or Falkland Islands). This requirement is related to concerns about variant CJD, or 'mad cow' disease.”
Re: Covid-19’s stop-gap solution until vaccines and antivirals are ready
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
For example?
You’re injecting blood products from another person so catching some other deadly disease is a real risk. Plasma is tested for AIDS and several other diseases, but prions for example are much harder to detect. Further, when you consider the risk of someone messing up on the supply side that opens up a host of issues.
This paper has a good overview, they say the rate of adverse events is around 1/1700. So if it reduces your risk of death from respiratory failure in the next week by almost any positive amount, it's worth doing.
This is only going to be used in hospitalized patients who are already developing respiratory failure (low blood oxygen levels), not in random people off the street with a cough.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3356109/#S1titl...