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At the moment, the only solution to become immune to Covid-19 (certainly over a certain period of time) is the vaccine. In the future, however, things could change. UK scientists, according to The Guardian, are in fact testing a new drug that could prevent people exposed to the coronavirus from developing the disease, thanks to a cocktail of antibodies.
Covid, test with an immune drug: what we know
The British scientists’ goal is for current investigational antibody-based therapy to confer immediate immunity. A notable difference compared to the vaccine, which instead guarantees theimmunity after about a month.
The new therapy could be administered as emergency treatment to hospitalized patients or to risk groups. The drug, developed by University College London Hospital (Uclh) and AstraZeneca (the pharmaceutical company that, together with the University of Oxford, has also created one of the vaccines to be used against the coronavirus), has behind it a study aimed at demonstrating that the antibody cocktail can protect against the coronavirus for a period of between 6 and 12 months.
Once approved, it would be administered to people exposed to Covid-19. in the last 8 days– The hope is that it will be available from spring 2021.
Covid, because the drug could be better than the vaccine
The study involves UCLH, several other UK hospitals and a network of 100 sites around the world. The immediate protection that the drug The promises could play a vital role in reducing the impact of the virus. until everyone has been vaccinated.
According to the virologist at UCLH, Katherine Houlihan, the advantage of the drug currently being tested is the fact that it provides antibodies immediately. The vaccine may protect against future infections, but those who have just been exposed to the virus run the risk of not having time before developing the disease: current vaccines, in fact, “do not confer immunity for one monthHoulihan stressed.
At that time, the drug was administered to 10 participating subjects – staff, students, and others – who have been exposed to the virus at home, in a healthcare setting, or in students’ classrooms. Testing will continue in the coming weeks.
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