In a major development, first successful recovery from the passive immunisation therapy of a virus-infected patient was reported in Sindh on Sunday.
Head of National Institute of Blood Disease & Bone Marrow Transplantation (NIBD & BMT) Dr Tahir Shamsi said that the first patient who recovered from the coronavirus through passive immunisation therapy has been sent home.
“The patient was administered plasma on April 30 and he completely recovered on May 8 as his second test of COVID-19 came out negative. More than 12 patients are currently being treated by the use of passive immunisation therapy,” he said.
The doctor said the using this technique, blood plasma from a healthy person was extracted and injected into the blood of a patient suffering from the coronavirus. "After the transfer, the injected plasma generates anti-bodies in the immune system of the patient suffering from the coronavirus. These anti-bodies eventually fight off the virus," he added.
On March 31, the government of Sindh had approved the use of passive immunisation therapy to treat coronavirus patients across the province. Supervised by Dr Shamsi, the technique was set to be presented to other provinces for approval before a detailed strategy could be implemented in the hospitals across Pakistan.
On April 2, Yahya Jafri – one of Pakistan’s coronavirus survivor – donated his plasma to doctors to help them fight the novel infection. "This virus will become history and our efforts will be remembered,” Jafri had said while addressing a press conference.
According to health experts, passive immunisation therapy was used to develop instant immune response and reduce the symptoms of ongoing diseases in the body on infected patient.