3 ms·
Is it just me or are they neglecting the treatment option here? Expanding manufacturing of monoclonal antibodies such that they're available everywhere for rap
by photochemsyn 5y ago
Is it just me or are they neglecting the treatment option here? Expanding manufacturing of monoclonal antibodies such that they're available everywhere for rapid treatment of actual cases rather than just vaccinating everyone might make more sense (particularly when vaccine breakthrough with new covid varients seems so common now). There's also several new antiviral meds that studies claim are quite effective.
This might mean accepting we have a new endemic disease that's going to be around for the foreseeable future, but that might be inevitable given the global distribution and all the new variants.
Incidentally, this is why I'm strongly opposed to gain-of-function research involving taking wild-type animal viruses and modifying them to include sequences that bind human cell receptors. It's likely possible to transform a wide variety of animal viruses into human pathogens with these approaches, and it doesn't add much value to the medical knowledge base. Yes we have learned how to create new diseases - oops - so let's stop doing it already.
- CallMeJim 5y agoFrom the biology perspective, monoclonal antibody production is hard, expensive and time-consuming. I don't think you'll see a rapid scale-up of these, as manufacturing at scale is so different to manufacturing in small batches. Recombinant monoclonal antibodies seem like an interesting approach, these would speed up production by shortening the critical chain.
- belltaco 5y agoWhat makes you think they're neglected? Billions of govt money have been poured into them.
- kyriakos 5y agoFrom what I understand there are already 3 antiviral treatments being introduced right now in pill form. That being set they can help if they are taken early on after symptoms appear and again aren't 100% effective. In addition they cannot be used by pregnant women. As with every disease prevention is always the better approach and vaccines offer that.