This week we’re bringing you the first of our questions submitted by our clients and social media followers! If you have a question you’d like to submit, please email us here.

Question:
My daughter has colitis and is on Remicade. My husband and I both work in the school system. We work in small communities where the incidence of Covid-19 has been low, however, when we go back to school in the fall, will we be putting our daughter at risk? How can we protect ourselves?

Answer:
Thank you for submitting a question which is on many people’s minds in terms of the risk which a return to school will pose to students, teachers, and the members of their families. What we have learned from the experience in China is that people who are well controlled on biologic therapies, such as Remicade (infliximab) for inflammatory bowel disease, did not have a higher incidence of getting Covid-19 than the general public. If they did get the virus, they did not do worse than the general public. This is very reassuring and tells us that the most important thing for your daughter to do is stay on treatment to keep her disease in good control. This will increase her resilience for fighting any infection. Of course if anyone on treatment gets a viral or bacterial infection, we hold their infusion until the infection has resolved.

As decisions are made closer to September, certainly the most vigilant approach would be that all staff and students wear a face covering and practice hand washing/sanitizing when entering and leaving any classroom/library. This will be dependent on the Ministers of Health and Education’s decision with the information they have at their disposal at that time. Reduced numbers within the classroom will also be helpful. When coming home after working in an environment with many people, an extra layer of protection for your family is to remove your clothing before/upon entering your home, and have a shower. Also ensure that everyone in the household has their adult/childhood vaccinations up to date. Getting plenty of rest, reducing stress, drinking water, eating a balanced diet of whole foods, and getting 150 minutes of exercise per week helps make our bodies more resilient and should always be a foundation for good health and prevention of disease.

Instead of bringing you a traditional blog this week, we want to hear from you! Do you have any questions you’d like answered? We are happy to report that we have close to 4000 followers on our weekly blog. We receive many kind comments and appreciation for the information we are sharing. But, we want to make sure we’re answering the questions YOU want answered. Send an email with any questions you might have to cwhiskin@charltonhealthcare.com!

This week I was asked when a biologic indicates it is humanized, does that mean it is a protein donated from another person?

This is NOT the case.  Biologic therapies used to treat autoimmune conditions mimic the look of antibodies composed of complex proteins.  They are made in a bioreactor using mammalian cells that have been biogenetically engineered to create a protein that is highly similar to proteins created by the human body. Proteins are made up of a sequence of amino acids.

When the sequencing is the same as that found in human proteins,
we refer to it as ‘humanized.’

The most common cells used for this purpose are Chinese hamster ovary cells.  Mouse cells (referred to as chimeric) have also been used to produce biologic treatments, but their structure could deviate a little from human proteins.  Regardless of the cell used to produce the biologic therapy, the end product is highly purified.