KARACHI: The Sindh Health Department on Thursday permitted three hospitals in the province to use plasma of recovered patients of COVID-19 for passive immunisation therapy on an experimental basis.
Dr Ruth KM Pfau Civil Hospital, Karachi, Liaquat University Hospital, Hyderabad and National Institute of Blood Disease, Karachi has been allowed to experimentally use “Coronavirus Convalescent Plasma” for passive immunization to treat positive cases.
According to a notification issued by the health department, a team of experts will supervise the process at these hospitals.
The team will include physician/infectious disease specialist, ICU specialist, consultant haematologist, and representative of Sindh Blood Transfusion Authority (SBTA).
Earlier, one member of an eight-member committee formed to examine the use of plasma in treating coronavirus patients by Sindh government, Tahir Shamsi had said that Sindh’s research can be benefited from by other provinces in the country.
Dr Shamsi said that coronavirus cases had seen a steep rise in the country and he was hopeful of getting samples from cured patients belonging to Lahore, Peshawar and Sukkur.
Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has allowed clinical trials of blood plasma therapy to treat coronavirus patients in the country.
Plasma, the fluid in blood teeming with antibodies post-illness, has already proven effective in small studies to treat infectious diseases including Ebola and SARS. – NNI
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