Posted on 08/13/2021 9:08:11 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
OCOEE, Fla. – Central Florida hospitals and clinics are providing a COVID-19 treatment that the governor said could help cut down on hospitalizations across the state.
GuideWell Emergency Doctors is one of the health care providers administering monoclonal antibodies.
Dr. Laura Gallegos works at the Ocoee urgent care center. She said it’s been a rough few week at the facility as physicians are caring for an uptick in COVID patients.
“It’s kinda astonishing how quickly the cases skyrocketed,” Gallegos said.
Gallegos and the medical staff at the clinic are working hard to keep COVID patients from going to the hospital. The site is offering Regeneron, which is a monoclonal antibody treatment that received emergency use authorization from the FDA.
“The whole idea is to prevent the complications from COVID,” Gallegos said. “It doesn’t treat COVID, it doesn’t get rid of COVID, but it prevents the complications of COVID.”
It is an infused medication that can reduce COVID symptoms in patients who are at high risk.
“It’s really meant for people who are at risk for developing the complications, so it’s not just for absolutely anybody. It’s meant for those people who have risk factors who are likely to end up in the hospital or intensive care,” Gallegos said.
Gallegos said high-risk factors include being overweight or obese, hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, a weakened immune system, chronic kidney disease and other conditions that put you at high risk.
She adds timing is key if you qualify for the treatment.
“You have to get it in the first 10 days of the onset of your symptoms,” she said.
Gallegos said on average, the clinic is administering 10 treatments a day. The healthcare provider said they have provided 250 treatments in the last month at GuideWell Emergency Doctors’ three Central Florida locations.
Gallegos said her patients report feeling better after the treatments. She adds it’s keeping them out of the hospital.
“So if you received that monoclonal antibody infusion, you’re less likely to wind up in the hospital, to wind up on a ventilator,” she said. “You’re more likely to do much better than someone who didn’t get it.”
While Gallegos said the treatment is beneficial, it is not a substitute for the COVID-19 vaccine.
“It’s not meant to be a replacement for the vaccine,” she said. “We don’t want you to get COVID at all. This is not a ‘get out of jail free’ card or anything like that.”
She said the treatment is becoming more widely known.
“A few weeks ago, nobody had heard of it and now we’re getting community physicians in the area sending their patients to get it,” Gallegos said. “I think it’s becoming more well-known among patients and physicians. The word is getting out.”
The drug is also becoming more widely available. The White House COVID-19 Response Team said it increased monoclonal antibody shipments to Florida over the past month.
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Thursday he’s expanding access to the drug. He launched a rapid response unit in Jacksonville to administer the therapy with plans to expand across the state.
Gallegos said she is encouraging COVID-positive patients to talk to their doctors about the treatment.
“This is an option for people to be a little bit more aggressive with their management and try to be proactive,” she said.
GuideWell Emergency Doctors is offering monoclonal antibodies at its locations in Ocoee, Orlando and Winter Park. Patients can make an appointment or walk-ins are allowed.
To find a location for an infusion center near you, click here.
Translated: Now that the vaccines are close to being approved, we no longer have to suppress all the treatments.
Oh, so the tests they ran for that therapy didn't test it exclusively on mostly dead patients, like the HCQ tests?
I looked up where is one near me, and the hospital on my HMO plan has it. Good to know. Thanks.
Unless you read FR, watched the COVID Update videos by Dr. Roger Seheult, read gas_dr's posts here on FR, or learned how they treated President Trump.
I'm amazed at the number of people who don't know anything at all about possible treatments and will blithely accept their doctor's "go home and take Advil -- call us if you get worse" advice.
Actually, it’s “go home and take Tylenol — go to the hospital if you get worse”
“A few weeks ago, nobody had heard of it and now we’re getting community physicians in the area sending their patients to get it,” Gallegos said. “I think it’s becoming more well-known among patients and physicians. The word is getting out.”
How the eff was this not well-known by every effing doctor from the very beginning?
RE: How the eff was this not well-known by every effing doctor from the very beginning?
Good question... since almost everyone knew that President Trump had Covid abd checked in to Walter Reed Hospital on Friday and left Monday afternoon.
One would think that doctors around this country would wonder what his doctors administered to him that allowed him, a 72 year old man to recover so soon.
The problem is the media FAILED to inform the public about his treatments, they were too busy wishing him ill.
Bookmark
Wasn’t availability. President Trump was one of the first.
There’s other infusions I believe.
It is widely known. The problem is its not widely available. I recently got very sick and went to the doctor in Texas. I tested negative for covid, but they even offered to wait a couple of days and try again because I have all the bad covid stuff. I'm fat, over 70, diabetic, heart problems and a candidate for death if I get covid. They have a checklist they go by and apparently I checked all the boxes to get the antibodies.
Doc said there is a limited supply available and I can't have any with just pneumonia.
IMHO, if we can make another 6 months there will be truckloads available for even school kids. Anyone sick with covid that meets some of the worse criteria can get it now if they get on the list. Doc said you feel like a new man in 2 days. Ivermectin and HCQ is for those that can't get anything.
Availability may depend on area, but sad part is some areas had availability and even in those areas it was still going largely unused until recently. Ignorance has certainly been a factor here.
Yes, this was the treatment that Trump had.
bmp
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