Mavenclad and instruction to Shield
Hi 👋 I completed my first round of Mavenclad in February of this year and received my letter from the Government asking me to “Shield” for 12 weeks in March, due to the risk of possible complications from COVID-19. At that time my lymphocytes were 0.8. Does anyone know what lymphocyte level we are at less risk? And if anyone know if we will be expected to Shield for longer? TIA
Hi @indie. Acceptable lymphocytes level is 0.50 to 0.70, below this they will consider changing dmt's. Anything above 1.0 is excellent. Shielding is subjective, depending on the NHS board you come under, your GP surgery and MS neurology team. Some of them took a blanket approach when issuing shielding letters, if you were in an at risk group, you got a shielding letter. Others took a case by case approach, based on Dmt's, levels and types of disability and stability of lymphocyte counts. Please refer to the MS society website for further information, it's the most up to date and accurate, as they're liaising directly with the ABN and have online Webinar presentations and discussions with ABN members and Q&A's. Details of upcoming sessions and how to register can be found on the website. This is where my knowledge comes from.
I also finished Y1 in February and my count was 0.55. I begun shielding in March on the advice from my neurologist. I then received a letter from my GP on the 21.4.20 telling me that I needed shielding for 12 weeks from that date. I then received a text from NHS coronavirus service telling me that I needed to shield until 30.6.20. I personally don’t think anyone knows what the answer is to the shielding issue. Stay safe