New antiviral treatments in Derbyshire prevent 100 hospital admissions

NEW Covid-19 treatments being rolled out in Derbyshire have meant that 100 patients with the virus have avoided hospital admission.

Dr Steve Lloyd, medical director at the Derby and Derbyshire Clinical Commissioning Group, says the new antiviral treatments were proving “very successful”.

He said that Derbyshire Health United (DHU) was in charge of the roll-out, based from both Ashgate Manor, in Chesterfield, and the Urgent Treatment Centre, next to Royal Derby Hospital.

The antiviral is called sotrovimab and Dr Lloyd said the treatment is said to reduce the chance of someone being hospitalised with Covid-19 by up to 80 per cent.

Known as a neutralising monoclonal antibody, it is given intravenously for antibody treatment and in tablet form as an antiviral medication.

Dr Lloyd said the service had triaged 889 patients, most of which were not eligible for the antiviral – but that 99 people had been treated by DHU with the new treatment.

He said most eligible people were either clinically extremely vulnerable, were on the transplant waiting list or were an immunosuppressed patient - and had tested positive for Covid.

The patient must have been identified within 72 hours of a confirmed lateral flow Covid test.

Dr Lloyd said “the numbers appear low, but are significant numbers” and said the treatment was helping to “depressurise our hospital bed capacity, which is critical at this point in time”.

Kirsty Osborn, deputy director for urgent care at DHU Health Care, said in January that the new treatment was “not a substitute for vaccinations”.

She said: “We would still encourage everybody who hasn’t already done so to book their vaccination as soon as possible.

“It remains the best way of putting up a barrier against Covid-19 for you and those around you. But for those who do become infected and are vulnerable, these treatments will help reduce symptoms, speed up recovery times and could mean fewer people are admitted to hospital.”

Alongside this new treatment, Derbyshire is to be home to one of six research sites for the treatment of Long Covid. This will start in March. Derbyshire Community

Health Services NHS Foundation Trust is running the trial scheme.

It says: “This trial aims to establish and look at the different ways that Long Covid clinics are set up in the UK, look at drug treatments through a trial and management of Long Covid using an app ‘Living Well with Long Covid’ with the aim of informing a new integrated care pathway for people with Long Covid.

“There will also be a focus on health inequalities. This is the largest Long Covid study taking place in the country and it is a privilege to be a part of it.”