Live Q&A COVID-19 Treatments Update with Dr Mike Stephens – Key Facts - Kidney Wales
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Live Q&A COVID-19 Treatments Update with Dr Mike Stephens – Key Facts

 

On the Tuesday 25 January 2022, Dr Mike Stephens, Consultant Transplant Surgeon at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, answered your questions surrounding the latest COVID treatments including neutralising monoclonal antibodies.

 

 

This session can be viewed on the Kidney Wales YouTube page here

 

 

Key messages

The Facebook live, hosted via the Kidney Wales Community group, focused on two main areas of concern, vaccinations, and the Neutralising Monoclonal Antibodies (nMAB).

The information is changing fast, we aim to continue to bring you the most up to date guidance. The information shared here is relevant as of 26/01/22.

 

 

Vaccines

 

  • Vaccines continue to be one of the safest and most effective ways to protect against Covid-19. We continue to recommend you get your coronavirus vaccination

 

  • Wales has a good uptake of people getting vaccinated with-in the general population. Roughly 95% of kidney patients have been vaccinated.

 

  • Most kidney patients should be receiving three primary doses of the vaccine and then a booster. Dr Mike addressed the concerns that third doses were showing as boosters. This is due to the way patients were being identified for vaccination and the rapidly changing situation with vaccines last year. It has now been rectified but if you are not sure whether you have received all of the appropriate vaccines talk with your kidney team.

 

  • As of January 2022, all eligible kidney patients in Wales should be on the list to receive a third primary dose if they have not had it already. The booster will be scheduled for roughly twelve weeks after their third vaccine. If you do have any concerns, please speak to your kidney team and they will be able to help.

 

 

 

 

Neutralising Monoclonal Antibodies (nMAB)

 

  • Vaccines have helped get us to a point where it is much safer for everyone from the risks of COVID. We now also have some new treatments which add to the level of protection; neutralising Monoclonal Antibodies (nMAB) and antiviral drugs. Both work in a different way to vaccines.
    • Vaccines encourage your immune system to be able to recognise and fight the virus more effectively and work for several months, but they take a couple of weeks before they have any effect, they do not help if a person already has COVID.
    • These new treatments work differently; they can be given to someone who has COVID and they can help the person to fight the virus immediately. However, their effects don’t last very long.

 

  • The nMAB are very complicated to make but research has shown they are good at helping clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV) patients to fight the virus and prevent the need to be admitted to hospital. They have to be given through an intravenous drip so this requires help from a healthcare professional and they have been shown to be safe for kidney and transplant patients, with few side effects.

 

  • The antiviral drugs can be given as tablets which makes them much easier to use. The one which is currently available (Molnupiravir) is safe for kidney patients to take, with minimal side effect, however isn’t very effective in kidney and transplant patients.
    • There is a new anti-viral drug which will be available soon called Paxlovid which is much more effective at treating the Omnicron variant of COVID. Unfortunately it is complicated to give to kidney and transplant patients. It can’t be given to patients with low kidney function, and it interacts with some of the anti-rejection medications taken by transplant patients.

 

  • At the end of 2021 it was announced that stage 4 and 5 kidney patients and all transplant patients are eligible for these new treatment options. If you test positive on PCR for COVID you will be contacted by phone to discuss if these treatments will be of benefit to you. There have been some ‘teething’ problems setting up this system but it is now working well, you are likely to be contacted by a member of your own kidney team.

 

 

  • If you test positive for Covid on a weekend you will not be contacted regarding treatment until the following Monday. The aim is to give the treatment within the first 5 days after testing positive.

 

 

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