MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Mid-South hospital has ramped up a new treatment plan for COVID-19, and a Memphis-area business has some of the last testing kits available.
The first time Memphis-based National Occupational Health and Safety Drug Testing received an order of COVID-19 antibody testing kits, their first instinct was to give back.
“Before I could pray about it, an idea popped into my head, to donate them to our local front-line personnel battling the virus,” owner Scott Smith said.
The company donated 100 kits to Baptist Hospital.
The second time around, China stopped shipping kits to the United States just days after National Occupational refilled with an even larger order for sale.
“I was told by my vendor that the test kits have been stopped by the Chinese FDA and ordered to turn back around to China because China needs to prepare for a second outbreak,” Smith said.
The antibody tests are not the same as a diagnosis. Instead, the 10-minute test can reveal if a person has been exposed to or is unknowingly battling the coronavirus, which is invaluable information for healthcare providers.
“This is how we’re going to fight this,” Smith said. “That is exactly what this product is.”
Antibodies in the blood from someone who’s been infected with COVID-19 is what’s being used to help others fight the virus.
Their blood contains antibodies that can fight the coronavirus when it’s injected into another infected patient.
“We certainly have some history, giving antibodies that we know help fight this infection from someone who has recovered from it and give that to somebody who needs a better fight against this virus,” Baptist Hospital infectious disease specialist Dr. Stephen Threlkeld said.
With a potential shortage on the horizon, the Memphis company wants to make sure these tests end up in the right hands.
The COVID-19 antibody testing kits aren’t a silver bullet for the global pandemic, but they could play an essential role in battling it.
“It’s probably the best option we have, I think, to treat seriously ill patients, so we’re going to try to ramp that up quickly,” Dr. Threlkeld said.
For information from the CDC about antibodies, click here.
Local healthcare providers who are interested in buying the antibody tests can email DrugFree1@comcast.net.
