DUHS scientists bring advancement in plasma treatment of Covid-19

A group of scientists from Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) bring significant advancement in the fight against Covid-19 after it prepared intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) with plasma treatment obtained from recovered patients of Coronavirus for treatment of Covid-19.

DUHS scientists bring advancement in plasma treatment of Covid-19DUHS Vice Chancellor Muhammad Saeed Quraishy called this advancement as an important breakthrough in the combat against Covid-19. Lab tests and animal trials were successful. The next step is to initiate clinical trials.

Official DUHS said in a press release that plasma treatment is the way of treatment which is safe, low risk and highly effective against Coronavirus. Through this method, Immunoglobulin is prepared after separation of antibodies found in the blood of a recovered patient.

Official DUHS pointed out that this form of treatment has been approved by US Food and Drug Administration.

DUHS added that currently this advancement acts as a ray of hope in this time of crisis.

University further added that the research team, led by Dr Shaukat Ali, developed this form of treatment after it was able to collect the first blood sample from an infected patient in March.

The team managed to isolate antibodies from the blood sample chemically, purified it and later concentrated these antibodies using ultrafiltration techniques that remove the remaining unwanted materials from the final product.

The university displayed confidence in the efficacy of its treatment by arguing that the Covid-19 strain currently infecting Pakistanis only has a “few mutations” and therefore local IVIG from infected patients holds the potential to provide an extremely potent form of immunisation against Covid-19 for Pakistanis.