>>> THE PATHOGEN CURRENTLY TURNING THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN IS
A NOVEL CORONAVIRUS, BECAUSE IT
IS LITERALLY NEW, NOVEL.
HUMANS HAVE NEVER ENCOUNTERED IT
BEFORE.
BEFORE. WE HAVE NO IMMUNITY TO IT.
THAT IS WHY IT’S SO SERIOUS, WHY
IT’S BEEN ABLE TO RAVAGE THE
PLANET.
PLANET. BUT THE HUMAN BODY IS AMAZING,
RIGHT?
RIGHT? WHEN WE ARE EXPOSED TO A VIRUS
LIKE COVID-19, WE CREATE
ANTIBODIES TO FIGHT IT OFF.
THAT BUILDS IMMUNITY AGAINST THE
VIRUS.
VIRUS. AND THOSE ANTIBODIES STICK
AROUND FOR A LONG TIME IN THE
BLOOD PLASMA OF PEOPLE WHO ARE
ABLE TO RECOVER.
ONCE A CONCERN HAS THE
ANTIBODIES, THEY MAY BE ABLE TO
DONATE THEIR PLASMA TO HELP
OTHERS, AS TREATMENT FOR PEOPLE
WHO ARE STILL SICK OR AS THE
BASIS PERHAPS FOR A VACCINE.
FOR MORE ON THE ANTIBODIES CAN
HELP FIGHT THIS, I WANT TO BRING
IN MY NEXT GUEST FROM BAYLOR
COLLEGE OF MEDICINE, CO-DIRECTOR
OF THE TEXAS CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL
CENTER FOR VACCINE DEVELOPMENT.
SO LET’S BEGIN WITH THE BASICS,
DOCTOR, ABOUT ANTIBODIES AND
IMMUNITY, IT SEEMS THERE WERE
SOME EARLY, SUDDEN REPORTING
EARLY ON, ONE OR TWO CASES IN
HONG KONG OF PEOPLE GETTING
INFECTED TWICE.
INFECTED TWICE. BUT IT SEEMS THE BULK OF
EVIDENCE SUGGESTS THAT PEOPLE
GET IT ONCE, THEY BUILD UP THE
ANTIBODIES AND ARE THEN
ESSENTIALLY IMMUNE.
ESSENTIALLY IMMUNE. IS THAT CORRECT?
>> THAT’S RIGHT.
THERE’S PRECEDENT WITH THAT WITH
OTHER HUMAN RESPIRATORY VIRUS
INFECTIONS.
INFECTIONS. AFTER YOU’RE INFECTED WITH THE
SARS II VIRUS, WHICH IS THE
OTHER VIRUS NAME FOR COVID-19,
YOU DEVELOP AN ANTIBODY RESPONSE
10 TO 14 DAYS AFTER INFECTION.
THAT DOESN’TDOESN’T NECESSARILY
YOU’RE INMUN, BUT STUDIES
SHOWSHOW
SHOWSHOW THE SCIENTISTS ARE UNABLE TO
REINFECT WITH THE VIRUS.
THE QUESTION IS GOING TO BE HOW
LONG DOES IT LAST?
THERE’S SOME EVIDENCE FROM THE
PREVIOUS SARS, THIS ONE IS SARS
II, THE PREVIOUS SARS IN 2003,
THAT NEUTRALIZING ANTIBODIES CAN
LAST AT LEAST TWO YEARS,
POSSIBLY MUCH LONGER.
>> SO IF PEOPLE HAVE ANTIBODIES
FROM AN EPIDEMIOLOGICAL
PERSPECTIVE, MARK LIPSITCH WAS
TALKING ABOUT ONE OF THE GREAT
UNKNOWN QUESTIONS, WHAT
PERCENTAGE OF THE POPULATION IS
GET THING AND BEING TOTALLY
ASYMPTOM MATTEK OR VERY MILD,
WHICH IS HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE OH
OUT THERE WITH THE ANTIBODIES?
SEVERAL DIFFERENT PEOPLE ARE
DEVELOPING A TEST FOR PEOPLE WHO
HAVE THE ANTIBODIES.
>> WE HAVE A LOT OF TESTS FOR
THAT AND IT’S AN INDICATION OF
PAST EXPOSURE.
PAST EXPOSURE. SO WE SAY IS IF WE KNOW THE
PERCENTAGE OF THE COMMUNITY
THAT’S BEEN EXPOSED TO THIS
VIRUS AND HAS ANTY BODY TIANTIBO
PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE INFECTED
AND EXPOSED TO THE VIRUS AND
THEREFORE WE KNOW HOW MUCH
TRANSMISSION THERE HAS BEEN IN
THE COMMUNITY.
THE COMMUNITY. IT’S A VERY OLD STANDARD METHOD
FOR THE INFECTIOUS DISEASE
EXPERTS AND EPIDEMIOLOGISTS USE.
>> AND IN TERMS OF OLD
STANDARDS, I WAS FASCINATED TO
SEE THE USE OF PLASMA, PLASMA
DONATIONS AND PLASMA IN TREATING
PATIENTS FOR PEOPLE THAT HAVE
GONE THROUGH THE ILLNESS AND
HAVE ANTIBODIES DATES WAY BACK,
IT WAS USED AS A METHOD IN THE
1918 FLU PANDEMIC ITSELF.
WHAT IS THE THINKING THERE?
HOW MUCH DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE
EFFICACY OF THAT?
THERE ARE NEW YORK HOSPITALS
ALREADY TAKING BLOOD DONATIONS
FROM FOLKS THAT HAVE BEEN
THROUGH COVID.
THROUGH COVID. >> WELL, THERE’S A LOT OF OLD
EVIDENCE GOING BACK 100 YEARS,
BUT MORE RECENTLY, AGAIN, AFTER
THAT FIRST SARS VIRUS INFECTION
IN 2003, A NUMBER OF STUDIES
WERE DONE LOOKING TO SEE IF YOU
COULD TRANSFER THE PLASMA
CONTAINING THE ANTIBODIES FROM
RECOVERED PATIENTS.
RECOVERED PATIENTS. YOU TAKE OUT THEIR PLAID,BLOOD,
EXTRACT THE PLASMA AND SELECT
THE PATIENTS WITH HIGH LEVELS OF
ANTIBODIES AND GIVE THAT AS A
THERAPY.
THERAPY. IT’S BEEN SHOWN IN A NICE PAPER
A FEW YEARS AFTER THE SARS
EPIDEMIC IN 2003 THAT IT SEEMS
TO WORK.
TO WORK. AND NOW THERE’S A NEW STUDY THAT
JUST CAME OUT OF CHINA, MORE OF
AN ANECDOTE, AROUND FIVE
PATIENTS THAT IT SEEMS TO BE
WORKING.
WORKING. I HAVE A LOT OF ENTHUSIASM THAT
THIS COULD BE THE FIRST
TREATMENT THAT WE HAVE FOR
SERIOUSLY ILL PATIENTS WITH ONE
CATCH, AND THAT IS YOU GENERALLY
HAVE TO GIVE THAT ANTIBODY
TREATMENT PRETTY EARLY.
IF YOU WAIT UNTIL PATIENTS ARE
VERY SICK IN THE ICU, IT MAY BE
TOO LATE.
TOO LATE. SO THE EARLIER YOU CAN GIVE IT
THE BETTER.
THE BETTER. SO IT’S A MATTER OF CAN YOU
SCALE THIS OFF.
A NUMBER OF US HAVE BEEN ON THE
PHONE WITH THE FOOD AND DRUG
ADMINISTRATION.
ADMINISTRATION. THERE’S A BRANCH LED BY A
WONDERFUL GUY NAMED DR. PETER
MARKS, WHO HAS BEEN REALLY ON
TOP OF THIS TOGETHER WITH A LOT
OF HEADS OF ACADEMIC HEALTH
CENTERS THAT BUILD THIS
ECOSYSTEM WHERE YOU CAN IDENTIFY
PATIENTS, TAKE THEIR ANTIBODY
AND PROCESS IT IN THE BLOOD BANK
LAB AND GIVE IT BACK TO
INDIVIDUALS.
INDIVIDUALS. IT’S A MATTER OF WHETHER WE CAN
DO THAT AT SCALE.
IT’S NOT EASY TO MASS PRODUCE.
IN TIME, THERE WILL BE MORE
COMMERCIAL THERAPIES AVAILABLE
OF HYPER IMMUNE GLOBULEN