New Treatment for Those with Mild to Moderate COVID-19
A new treatment for those diagnosed with mild to moderate COVID-19 is being offered at Essentia in Duluth.
February 9, 2021
NORTHLAND – A new treatment for those diagnosed with mild to moderate COVID-19 is being offered at Essentia in Duluth.
The drug being used in this new antibody treatment at Essentia Health is called bamlanivimab, which mimics the immune system’s ability to fight off viruses like COVID. The aim of the treatment is to make sure that people don’t progress to more severe disease after getting COVID.
“And so we are targeting patients with mild to moderate symptoms in hopes that we will be able to keep them out of the emergency department and hospitalization,’ said Stephanie Nixon, the antimicrobial stewardship program manager at Essentia Health.
A board member’s apology to teachers, a survey critical of school district leadership, and a faculty dispirited by the pandemic provided for a sobering discussion of Aspen School District’s state of affairs during a virtual meeting held Monday.
“Some of this stuff is really hard to hear,” said Superintendent David Baugh, adding “this is a time of high tension, high stress.”
Baugh’s comments came after a presentation of Aspen Education Association results from a survey conducted Jan. 12 to 17. Survey results from the AEA, the representative arm of district teachers, showed 52.4% of the 103 respondents planned to remain at the district. Another 19.4% said they were either leaving the district or seriously considering it, and an additional 26.2% replied they either weren’t sure or preferred not to answer the question.
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DULUTH – Donna Hipsher found out she had COVID-19 on Wednesday and was in the St. Luke s emergency room by Thursday morning not to check in and go on a ventilator, but to avoid needing to in the future.
Hipsher, 61, received a monoclonal antibody infusion, an emergency-authorized treatment meant to reduce the likelihood of hospitalizations due to coronavirus infections that is available for patients over 65 or those with certain health conditions. With a compromised immune system, Hipsher said she was grateful to receive the hourlong infusion and head home to Iron River, Wis., with her husband to recover. If I survive it, it gives people hope, she said, because I thought if I get [COVID-19] I m going to die for sure.
Physicians encourage those eligible to consider monoclonal antibody treatment in first 10 days of symptoms. Written By: Andee Erickson | ×
Buildings from Essentia Health-St. Mary s Medical Center (left) and St. Luke s hospital dominate this aerial view of Duluth s Central and East Hillside neighborhoods. (2017 file / News Tribune)
Duluth s two health care systems, Essentia Health and St. Luke s, are now weeks into offering monoclonal antibodies as a COVID-19 treatment for people with mild to moderate symptoms and at high risk of becoming hospitalized.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization of the treatment in November. Shortly after, the federal government began distributing the treatment to states.