By Muhammad Luqman
Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has allowed the clinical trials of plasma threrapy for the treatment of COVID-19 patients.
“The drug regulator has permitted clinical trials of plasma therapy for COVID-19 treatment,” Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health , Dr. Zafar Mirza said in a statement.
Pakistan’s first coronavirus patient, Yahya Jaffery has already donated plasma to Karachi’s Children Hospital for the therapy
The 22-year-old patient hopes that the plasma extracted from his blood would help a number of COVID-19 patients recover from the deadly disease.
“We would use existing machines that currently extract plasma for dengue treatment to obtain plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients,” Dr. Saquib Ansari, a renowned haematologist and the Chief Executive Officer of the Children Hospital said.
Under Plasma Therapy that is also called Passive Immunization, the blood of recovered patients of COVID-19 could be used to slow the spread of the deadly contagion which has killed nearly 80,000 people and sickened more than 1.5 million others worldwide.
“The body of a COVID-19 patient creates antibodies to fight off the virus. These antibodies in the blood of a recovered patient could be used to boost the immunity of the newly infected people,” says Dr Tahir Shamsi, the head of National Institute of Blood Diseases.
In medical language , this technique is called “passive immunisation” which was introduced in 1890. This technique is used when there is a high risk of infection and insufficient time for the body to develop its own immune response, or to reduce the symptoms of ongoing or immuno-suppressive diseases.
Medical practitioners in the United States are also advocating this technique. A plan has been presented to the Donald Trump administration for extracting convalescent plasma from the recovered patients of COVID-19 in the US states of Baltimore and New York.
