…medical services director says too early to give assessment

TWO patients of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), who were diagnosed with the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) disease, have joined the clinical trials of plasma/antibody treatment for COVID-19.

Monoclonal antibody therapy is defined as a form of immunotherapy that uses monoclonal antibodies to bind monospecifically to certain cells or proteins. The objective is that this treatment will stimulate the patient’s immune system to attack those cells; and, it was recently reported that Guyana was poised to join global trials of antibody treatment for COVID-19. It is now evident that the trials have started, but it is too soon to say what the results are, said Director of Medical and Professional Services at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), Dr. Fawcett Jeffrey during an exclusive interview with the Guyana Chronicle on Thursday.

“We have started…we started with two patients, but it is too early to predict the outcome…it is really too early to give a prediction of results because it might work for one person, but scientifically might not show effective, so we have to wait,” said Dr. Jeffrey, adding that an assessment of the treatment will be done once there are enough patients in trial.

It was reported that the COVID-19 pandemic has reached the shores of over 213 countries and in response to the disease, some of these nations have resorted to clinical trials of various types of treatment, such as the antibody treatment.

“We are poised to possibly join some of these trials…the one we are interested in looking at is the transfusion of plasma of convalescent persons – meaning persons who have been sick, and are winning the battle against the disease,” said Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr. Karen Boyle, in a recent recording released by the Ministry of Public Health.

Dr. Boyle, in further breaking down the definition of this type of treatment, said it entails the transfusion of antibodies to ailing persons. “The plasma will be rich with antibodies…so it is basically like giving persons an immune boost, so it stands to reason that it should be helpful to people overcoming the disease,” said the DCMO.

The latest statistics released by health authorities, show that seven more persons have recovered from the coronavirus disease in Guyana. According to health authorities, the number of persons who have recovered from the disease has increased from 27 to 34.
The DCMO said while the trial which involves using plasma from recovered patients may be a major stepping stone in the fight against the disease, persons need to be cognisant that there is no approved cure for COVID-19.

According to a report from American public broadcaster, Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), convalescent plasma has shown enough promise against COVID-19 that hundreds of hospitals around the country have put it to use. While still considered an experimental treatment, patients are receiving convalescent plasma through clinical trials and by way of compassionate use, to which the Food and Drug Administration expanded access earlier this year.

The PBS report stated that convalescent plasma therapy dates back to the 1890s, when doctors transfused diphtheria patients with blood plasma from immunised animals. It was given to patients during the 1918 influenza pandemic and credited for stopping an outbreak of measles at a boarding school in Pennsylvania in 1934. It was used during the Ebola epidemic of 2014-2016, the recent H1N1 pandemic and outbreaks of SARS and MERS, two diseases also caused by coronaviruses.

Globally, there are over 3.4 million cases of COVID-19, with approximately 240,000 deaths. And with no approved treatment or cure, there is no assurance that persons will survive after contracting the disease. In the absence of approved medications, governments and authorities across the world have employed a number of preventive measures to contain the spread of the disease.

In an effort to improve the response to the epidemic, the local Public Health Ministry launched its mobile unit at the East La Penitence Health Centre as well as the community COVID-19 facilities of Region Four at Herstelling,, on the East Bank of Demerara and at Paradise on the East Coast of Demerara. Additionally, government has extended its emergency measures to combat the dreaded disease, with the imposition of a 12-hour curfew on citizens. These emergency measures were taken pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (2) (b) of the directive issued by the President, in accordance with the Public Health Ordinance, Cap. 145, and were published in the Official Gazette, Legal Supplement B, on March 16, 2020. These measures remain in effect until June 3, 2020.