Antibody cocktail therapy given to three high-risk Covid patients at private facility in Delhi

New Delhi, Jun 23: Three high-risk coronavirus patients, including a senior citizen, have received the monoclonal antibody therapy at a leading private facility in Delhi, the hospital authorities said on Wednesday.

As part of this single-dose infusion-based treatment, patients with mild to moderate symptoms are offered a cocktail of Casirivimab and Imdevimab.

Three high-risk coronavirus patients, including a senior citizen, were administered the monoclonal antibodies therapy at the Max Super Speciality Hospital, Shalimar Bagh, the hospital authorities said in a statement.

S L Chawla (78), who had several co-morbidities, developed a severe body ache and fever five days before testing positive for Covid. He was administered the therapy recently, while his daughter Garima (36), a diabetes patient, was treated on the fourth day after developing the symptoms, a spokesperson of the hospital said.

Chawla has comorbidities such as hypertension, diabetes and had a coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) and percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), the hospital authorities said.

The other patient, Ashok Gupta (59), a hypertensive person, had Covid symptoms for four days, with a high viral load on June 14.

These three patients were the first ones to receive the antibodies cocktail therapy at the facility, the hospital spokesperson said.

The three patients had no clinical evidence of lung involvement and were maintaining saturation in room-air condition, the statement said.

The therapy is most suited for "high-risk COVID-19 patients" who are within the first 10 days of the symptom onset and meet any of the listed criteria such as their age being 65 years or above.

The other criteria include obesity with BMI (Body Mass Index) of more than 35 or type 1 or type 2 diabetes mellitus or chronic kidney disease, including those on dialysis, or chronic liver disease or currently receiving immunosuppressive treatment or if aged above 55, having either a heart disease or hypertension or a chronic lung disease.