Paving way for India’s first antidote against COVID
Recently, The University of Hyderabad announced the completion of phase-2 clinical trials of COVID-19 antidote VINCOV-19 across multiple centres in India. This has raised eyebrows around how these antidotes for COVID actually function.
What is an antidote for COVID?
The antibody or antidote is basically targeting the antigens that are present in the COVID outer membrane and are responsible for COVID attachment to the lung tissue. These antibodies neutralize the COVID viruses in a way that the virus is not able to attach itself to the human cells and infect them which ultimately leads to disease or increased severity of the disease.
What should you keep in mind before getting one?
“It is important to understand that if somebody is getting this antibody cocktail it has to be against the right strain. It is effective because most of the mutations that we see majorly happen in the COVID virus in the outer membrane protein. This is what enables the host to remain immune and it is able to escape the antibody cocktail as well,” says Dr. Ankita Baidya, Consultant - Infectious Disease, HCMCT Manipal Hospital, Dwarka.
How soon should you take the antidote treatment?
You need to understand that if you’re eligible for the COVID antidote treatment, you should take the antidote well within the recommendation, which is preferably within 10 days of getting COVID infection. It should be administered as early as possible preferable within 7 days of COVID infection or when the symptoms start.
Why should an antidote be taken sooner?
If a COVID antidote is given early in the course, it actually prevents damage to the host cells, thus inflicting less painful symptoms and preventing harm to the body. The antidote should be taken early on because it inhibits the virus from getting into the cells.
The takeaway
It is too soon to get revved up about the antidotes since they’re still in the trial phase. Several more studies on how they’ll react to human subjects with COVID are being done. Let’s expect these to ensure maximum coverage against the virus and its mutations to come.