WELL+BEING
Monoclonal antibody infusions treatment for COVID-19 written by PEPPER VAN TASSELL Days before retired nurse Ruby Blahut contracted COVID-19, her daughter, Cathy Miles – a nurse at Meritus Medical Center – learned of a newly approved treatment offered at the Washington County hospital that ultimately helped save her mother’s life. In the days after Thanksgiving, Blahut and Miles , who is clinical manager of the operating room at Meritus, contracted COVID-19. At the same time, Meritus Medical Center started offering monoclonal antibody infusions for the treatment of the virus. They were reserved for those with a mild to moderate infection, and who were at greater risk of serious illness or death from the disease. Blahut, an 82-year-old retired hospice nurse who suffers from chronic bronchitis, met the criteria and was treated within the first week. “My daughter was scared, and so when this program – when that came up about the IV – she immediately had me call the doctor,” Blahut said. “I got arrangements to go in and, oh, I’m so thankful.” One more tool The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted emergency-use authorization of bamlanivimab as a monoclonal antibody infusion therapy in early November, followed a few weeks later by the approval of more antibody treatments. Bamlanivimab, which was the first treatment Meritus offered, has since been discontinued as a single-use therapy due to its inefficacy against variants, but a mix of approved antibodies in combination therapies are being administered instead, said Dr. Aaron George, chief medical officer at Meritus. “It gave us one more option to try to treat pa-
tients before they cross the threshold of our emergency room,” George said. “This just gave us one more opportunity to respond to this pandemic.” Following FDA approval, states quickly identified hospitals to offer the infusions. Maryland selected four hospitals to launch the treatment, including Meritus to serve the western part of the state. There are now 20 such infusion sites throughout the state, he said. “We had the ability to do it. We had the expertise in the center for it and we were geographically in an ideal place, as well,” George said. Before the launch of the COVID infusion center, which is adjacent to the hospital, and separate from the hospital’s primary infusion center, hospital staff and the system’s doctors were apprised of the new treatment and its criteria – including a need for referrals, he said. In the infusion center’s first week, five people were treated. By year’s end, 199 patients received the infusion. A total of 1,070 patients had received the treatment as of May 12. As of May 7, Washington County recorded 14,532 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 276 deaths, according to the Washington County Health Department website.
Dr. Aaron George of Meritus Medical Center explains that the infusions slow disease progression by helping the body recognize the COVID-19 virus so it can’t replicate. Submitted photo
A ticking clock George explained that the infusions slow disease progression by helping the body recognize the virus so it can’t replicate. That is why patients must act within the first 10 days of illness to receive it. Those who have progressed to requiring hospitalization or oxygen therapy are not eligible. Anyone older than 12 with a moderate to severe risk of serious illness or death – with immunocompromising conditions, such as chronic kidney disease, diabetes, obesity and some underlying congenital diseases – are el-
