Sindh government approves trial of passive immunization to treat coronavirus patients

By Muhammad YaseenPublished On 06 Jan 2023

KARACHI: The Sindh government on Monday approved efforts to experiment with the use of passive immunization therapies to treat coronavirus patients across the province.

The technique, supervised by hematologist Tahir Shamsi, will also be presented to other provinces for approval before a detailed strategy regarding it can be implemented in hospitals across the country.

"Under this technique, blood plasma from a healthy person is extracted and injected into the blood of a patient suffering from the coronavirus," Shamsi said on Monday.

It has also led to more than 37,000 deaths worldwide, hitting the continent of Europe especially hard. The United States last week became the most-affected country by the virus.

Although the virus first emerged in China, the Chinese government successfully subdued the outbreak in the epicenter of Wuhan through unprecedented measures, including a massive lockdown.

US President Donald Trump announced last week that chloroquine, an old malaria drug, has shown “very very encouraging results” in treating the mysterious disease.

An official at China’s science and technology ministry, Zhang Xinmin, has said that a drug in Japan, called favipiravir, is also effective against the disease as it has produced satisfactory outcomes in trials.

Medical practitioners in the United States are also convinced about the efficacy of the passive immunisation technique. A plan has been presented to the Trump administration in this regard as well.