His was a special Christmas gift, but significant because this cure could truly be a salvation for many Covid sufferers. There is new hope for a cure for this terrible virus. And to tell it is a 54-year-old woman Claudia Disi, a Roman teacher, the first Italian patient to be treated with monoclonal antibodies. Not only are we making progress, therefore, with vaccines, but research does not stop at cures either. And in fact we had already told how antibodies monoclonal could mean a breakthrough against the Coronavirus. And Claudia's story proves it. The treatment is the same used by the former US president, Donald Trump. But the distribution of these drugs in Italy has only recently arrived.
The story of Claudia and her illness
Claudia Disi also talked about her experience on TV, and in the newspapers where she was interviewed. Suffering from multiple sclerosis and immunosuppressed, Claudia's story is sobering. Affected by Covid-19, but the virus had spread to a lower part of the lungs, so much so that it was invisible even to the swab. After 60 days of high fever, hospitalization at Spallanzani in Rome, the last resort seemed to be precisely this cure. And in fact, doctors have called for a supply of monoclonal drugs in America.
"They didn't understand why I got a fever - the woman said-. Then with a bronchoscopy it was understood that traces of Covid remained in the lower part of the lung. My body was trying to defend itself, but it couldn't because I have a problem with my immune defenses due to multiple sclerosis therapies. On December 24th I had the infusion of monoclonal antibodies and on December 31st I left the hospital because I was cured".
The experimental drug in Claudia's story
The supply, for compassionate use, requested from American producers. The Regeneron drug comes from the USA. "They are actually two drugs that are combined and then a drip is given, for two hours. In one solution - the patient said-. I had to sign a release, as it was an experimental drug, but I had no doubts. And I was not afraid. I still remember everything: on Wednesday the drug leaves from the United States, arrives first in London, finally on Thursday morning, Christmas Eve, at Spallanzani I get an IV.
I didn't have any side effects, but I started to get stronger and stronger right away. They monitored me for a week, but I was really fine. And on December 31, after a week, the good news: I went out, spent the New Year with my husband and my 18-year-old son. And I immediately felt the desire to thank doctors and nurses, extraordinary, we cannot forget them, they really give the soul".
Treatment in immunosuppressed patients
The first treatments that Claudia Disi had undergone were the same as those administered to other patients. But the fever kept rising and those treatments seemed to be of no use. Then the turning point that also marked a hope in Claudia's story. For the moment, treatments can only be reserved for patients with particular pathologies and immunosuppressed, as also clarified by the director of the Spallanzani's high-intensity infectious diseases care department, Emanuele Nicastri.
Immunosuppression can be caused by the use of chemotherapy drugs or against autoimmune or neurological diseases. The production of antibodies in these patients is therefore more difficult. "For this we have people who remain positive - explained the doctor -, with pneumonia and also with demanding pictures, for a long time. In these cases, on the basis of very few literature data, we used monoclonal antibodies. We are therefore not talking about pivotal clinical trials for their use".
Claudia and thanks to the medical staff
Once the woman returned home and recovered, she wrote to the doctors of the hospital. "I was afraid, I do not hide it - said the woman -. This cursed virus inspires terror despite you, men and women of science, have sufficiently identified and partially hunted it down. I will not be able to forget Andrea, the operator who first took care of me when, in tears, on the evening of November 13, I greeted my husband and my son and took possession of my bed, number 14 (which later became 5). And how not to mention all the nurses: tireless, professional and always with a smile. Do you know what my biggest worry has been for days? That of fearing that, once I got out of here, in case I met one of you, I would never be able to recognize their features. The Covid beast makes these thoughts come. Because it forces us to live in disguise, like astronauts".
A hope, therefore, for the cycle. It is hoped that they can now be licensed for general use to patients.
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