NIBD set to treat COVID-19 patients through passive immunisation

Dr Tahir Shamsi says within six days of being infused plasma, coronavirus patients will be recuperated

KARACHI: The National Institute of Blood Disease (NIBD) is all set to infuse COVID-19 patients with blood plasma of those who have recovered from the mysterious illness, in a bid to save the lives of coronavirus patients.

The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) on Thursday granted approval for a passive immunisation under which the blood plasma is infused to the coronavirus patients to help their immune system to fight off the highly-contagious disease.

Convalescent plasma taken from a recovered patient is believed to be rich in the antibodies needed to cure the deadly infection.

The NIBD head, Dr Tahir Shamshi, who had proposed the technique to the government authorities for the treatment of COVID-19 last month, told The Express Tribune that the process to extract plasma from recovered coronavirus patients will begin from Monday.

The helpline number (0333-2976390) has also been issued for those who wish to donate their blood, he said, adding that the recovered patient can donate his blood plasma after every two weeks which could save the live of at least one patient.

"The NIBD hospital in Karachi is equipped with four machines which can extract plasma of 40 patients per day," Dr Shamsi said.



According to him, the health condition of coronavirus patient will start improving within 48 hours after undergoing treatment and in the next six days the patient will be recuperated from the mysterious illness.

The country’s top hematologist and transplant surgeon also said Rs50,000 expenses are incurred for extracting plasma from one patient but NIBD will do it free of charge.

Dr Shamsi had earlier told The Express Tribune in an exclusive interview that the similar technique had been used in the past for the treatment of viral diseases like influenza, polio and measles before the introduction of vaccines.

Currently, there are no vaccines or proven therapies available for COVID-19 disease  has spread to at least 184 countries and regions across the globe since its outbreak in the central China city of Wuhan towards the end of December 2019.

At least 1.5 million cases have been reported worldwide, with over 89,700 deaths and more than 337,000 recoveries.