SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – The FDA has brought an end to the use of a key monoclonal antibody as a treatment for those who catch COVID-19, and have a weak immune system because it is no longer effective against the emerging omicron variants.
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The virus has changed so much from what it was in its initial iteration of omicron that this treatment doesn’t bind to the virus in the same way anymore.
"This underscores how we have to be proactive about our countermeasures against this virus and how this virus is going to continually mutate," said Dr. Amesh Adalja, Senior Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security on KCBS Radio’s "Ask an Expert" on Friday with Eric Thomas and Margie Shafer.
Fortunately, there are other alternatives that still appear to be effective treatments, like Paxlovid, which so far doesn’t seem to be negatively affected by the new variants.
After that though, the options for treatment do become more limited for those who can't take Paxlovid because of how it interferes with other medications they might be on.
Or with others, like Remdesivir, it can be complicated to administer because it's taken intravenously.
"The alternatives are there but they're not as good as that monoclonal antibody was, and definitely not as good as Paxlovid," he said.
This comes as other respiratory viruses, like RSV and the flu, are gaining headway during the winter season, making COVID-19 just yet another thing to worry about.
“We are contending with all three of them at the same time,” said Adalja. As of right now, RSV appears to be peaking in the United States and will hopefully start to come down.
Fortunately, right now there is a healthy supply of treatments for COVID-19 and only a couple of reported shortages of some flu treatments.
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