The tests are intended to determine whether the two monoclonal antibodies developed by the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca could immediately neutralize the virus and provide annual protection against infection.
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The drug is not intended to replace the vaccine, but is intended for those people who have already come into contact with those infected and are at risk of becoming infected. Vaccination can no longer help them, because it takes a few weeks for the necessary antibodies to form.
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The injection will “provide” antibodies, “Catherine Houlihan, a virologist at UCLH Hospital, told the BBC. “It skips the stage when they are made by the body,” the doctor added. virus and it is too late to offer them a vaccine. “
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The procedure is also used for rabies
The approach is not entirely new, a similar one is used in the case of rabies, when an unvaccinated person is tempted by an angry animal, or when a pregnant chickenpox is infected.
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Houlihan plans to involve a thousand volunteers in the tests, especially people who come into contact with those infected. The condition is that the people they met have a positive test for coronavirus.
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The product should be intended, for example, for first-line healthcare professionals who come into contact with those infected, for patients in hospitals or for carers from retirement homes.
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