SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) — A treatment that can reduce symptoms and hospitalizations and possibly prevent deaths due to COVID-19 is widely available in South Dakota and across the country, but health experts say the monoclonal antibody drugs are not being used as often as they could.
Only about 30% to 40% of the nation’s available supply of the antibody treatments had been administered as of late January, nearly three months after the drugs received emergency approval for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The South Dakota medical community has generally embraced the treatments and taken significant steps to develop an effective system of administering the drugs. Sanford Health estimates the treatments have already prevented a year’s worth of cumulative hospital stays by COVID-19 patients. Still, South Dakota health experts say more patients could be getting the infusions and the benefits they provide.
In the latest article published by South Dakota News Watch, available here, reporter Bart Pfankuch explains what the antibody treatments are, how they work and why the rollout of the treatments has been slow so far.
