Experimental treatment using COVID-19 antibodies is showing some promise. Three COVID patients hospitalized at Hadassah Ein Karem Medical Center in moderate condition, with pneumonia, saw a rapid improvement in their condition after they were given antibodies. All three were released from the hospital to continue recuperating at home.
The three were part of a clinical trial from Israeli pharmaceutical company Kamada. The trial includes 12 patients at a number of hospitals throughout Israel. On Monday, the company informed the Israel Securities Authority that the trial was underway and that the first three patients had seen significant improvement within two days of the treatment.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
The antibody treatment is sourced from blood plasma from patients who have recovered from coronavirus. But unlike the treatment offered by the Magen David Adom blood bank, which uses whole plasma, Kamada has isolated a few antibodies that appear effective in neutralizing the virus.
The plasma donors were all individuals who had developed a high level of antibodies.
Dr. Asa Kessler, from the Corona Unit at Hadassah Ein Karem, said that "The patients who receive the treatment suffer from pneumonia caused by the virus, and right now, although we're at the start we are very encouraged."
Hadassh Director General Professor Zeev Rothstein was one of the health care officials behind the initiative to collect blood plasma from corona patients after their recovery so that antibodies could be extracted from it, and clashed with the Health Ministry over the project.
Former Health Ministry Director General Moshe Bar Siman-Tov went so far as to forbid Rothstein from collecting plasma.
"The erroneous thinking of the former ministry director general at the start of the crisis has hurt all of us in more than one way," Rothstein said.
In the 24 hours from midnight Tuesday to midnight Wednesday, 24,055 coronavirus tests conducted nationwide resulted in 1,609 new confirmed cases, a positive rate of 6.7%, slightly lower than the previous 24 hours.
As of Thursday morning, there were 23,229 symptomatic patients in Israel, 1,470 fewer than in the previous 24 hours. A total of 374 were hospitalized in serious condition, eight fewer than on Wednesday, but more than the 357 serious cases listed a week ago.
A total of 17 COVID deaths in the past 24 hours brought Israel's death toll from the virus to 639.
Meanwhile, the Health Ministry on Wednesday announced it would be shortening the mandatory quarantine period for coronavirus patients of people showing symptoms by one to three days.
The new guidelines stipulate that the clock will start on a person's quarantine from the day he or she is tested, and not from the day test results come back positive, which has thus far been the standard. Israel Hayom was the first to report on the ministry's plans to update quarantine regulations.
The new rules could shave one to three days off the time a person is in quarantine. Asymptomatic carriers will be listed as "recovered" starting 10 days after they are tested
Symptomatic carriers who can pinpoint when their symptoms first appeared will be listed as "recovering" starting 10 days after the symptoms first appeared, plus an additional three days without fever or respiratory difficulty, for a total of 13 days.
Symptomatic carriers who are unable to identify when their symptoms first appeared will be listed as "recovering" 10 days after the date of their tests, but only if they have been asymptomatic for three full days.
The change to quarantine protocol was spearheaded by the country's health care organizations, who asked the Health Ministry to shorten the mandatory quarantine.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
