The University of Kansas Health System reports another drop in the number of COVID patients today. 16 with the active virus are being treated, down from 22 yesterday. Five patients are in the ICU, up from four yesterday. Four are on ventilators, the same as yesterday. 36 other patients are still hospitalized because of COVID but are out of the acute infection phase, down from 38 yesterday. That’s a total of 52 patients, down from 59 yesterday. HaysMed reports 18 total patients, up from 16 yesterday.
On today’s Morning Medical Update, many people ask why everyone who tests positive doesn't get monoclonal antibodies? Dr. Nathan Bahr, an infectious disease physician at the health system, joined to answer that and other questions. We looked at who is a candidate and heard from a patient here at the health system on how it’s helping him in his fight against COVID.
Paul Van Erem was one of the first patients to get monoclonal antibodies when the treatment for COVID first became available at The University of Kansas Health System. Here is his story.
The great news is we just checked with Paul and he’s doing very well and grateful he was able to get the treatment, especially with all of his other medical problems. Dr. Bahr explained why Paul was a good candidate for monoclonal antibodies, and why not everyone with COVID is. To qualify you must be within ten days of your symptom onset, have a positive COVID test and be 12 or older, and it doesn’t matter if you’ve been vaccinated. Those with the highest risk, such as the immune suppressed, are also candidates. He also wants to emphasize the treatment is safe for pregnant women and says they are a priority group. He pointed out that this is an infusion which takes about three hours in a clinic, and so far there is no prescription pill you get from the drug store. He’s glad the treatment worked so well for Paul, but stresses this is nowhere near a replacement for vaccination. As he puts it, “This is a rescue plan. It may be able to pull you back, but it may not.” He’s had conversations with his unvaccinated COVID patients. For most, they were scared of something somebody told them about the vaccine. Often they express regret at not believing in the vaccine, which Dr. Bahr says is always hard to see, especially when they’re extremely ill. He says, “It’s interesting that we see plenty of unvaccinated people who are very willing to get this treatment that’s still under emergency authorization even though that was one of their arguments against the vaccine.” He feels it’s a lot easier to say you don’t want to be vaccinated when it’s a hypothetical thing that you tell yourself will not happen to you. But most people get scared when they actually get COVID and he says, “That’s when the calculation in your mind maybe changes a little bit with that.” He reminds everyone that the monoclonal antibody medicine is free, though other fees involved in the infusion are billed to insurance. To those against vaccinations who like to say the death rate is very low for COVID, he says, “That’s true. But there are very bad things that aren’t death. If you’re in the ICU for a month and you live, we’re very excited for you, but that’s a long road to recovery after that. And what we’re seeing is people that were 28-year-old triathletes who can hardly walk across the room a year later. That’s awful. And that’s something we want to prevent.”
Dana Hawkinson, MD, medical director of Infection Prevention and Control at The University of Kansas Health System, is pleased by the lower COVID patient numbers. He’s optimistic but realistic that we may never reach the 85 to 90 percent vaccination rate we need to eliminate the virus with so many people vehemently opposed to vaccines and masks. He points out there is some protection from natural infection, but it’s not as good as what you get from the vaccine. He reminds us that the vaccines are not designed to keep us from getting the disease, but to keep us from having severe symptoms, going to the hospital, or dying. He’s encouraged by news that a J&J booster could be coming soon, but says we’ll need to see all of the data first. He hopes there is not another surge, but fears there will be and says we must prepare by getting everyone vaccinated, including children when the vaccine is approved for them.
Wednesday, October 6 at 8:00 a.m. is Open Mics With Dr. Stites. Vaccines are just around the corner for children ages 5-11. But some parents are still hesitant. We’ll have an expert from Children’s Mercy along with one of our own pediatricians to answer your questions. Plus, how the vaccine impacts children with certain chronic diseases.
NOTE: Journalists should rejoin the Morning Medical Update at 8am as doctors are growing too busy again for individual interview requests. Please bring questions or send to medicalnewsnetwork@kumc.edu until further notice. Thanks for all you do and helping to keep the community safe with your reporting.
ATTENTION: media procedure for calling in:
The meeting is available by Zoom, both video and by phone. To join the Zoom Meeting by video, click https://kumc-ois.zoom.us/j/7828978628
Telephone dial-in Participants: For those without Zoom, call 1-312-626-6799, meeting ID: 782 897 8628.
The feed is also available via TVU grid. The TVU source is UoK_Health and is being made available to all.
Feel free to send questions in advance to medicalnewsnetwork@kumc.edu.