Coronavirus patient recovers after plasma therapy in Pakistan

A coronavirus patient in Pakistan has recovered following a successful convalescent plasma therapy at a hospital.

The 53-year-old patient admitted at Liaquat Medical University in Karachi was given convalescent plasma therapy last week.

Convalescent plasma therapy uses antibodies from the blood of a recovered coronavirus patient to treat those critically affected by the deadly virus.

The patient recovered after seven days, even before the usual two-week period, following the treatment, Dr Tahir Shamsi, head of the National Institute of Blood Diseases (NIBD), told reporters.

Also known as passive immunisation, the plasma therapy is still in an experimental stage for coronavirus treatment, but is being used in many countries, including India, China and the US.

Pakistan has so far reported 29,465 coronavirus cases and 637 fatalities. Punjab registered 11,093 cases, Sindh 10,771, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 4,509, Balochistan 1,935, Islamabad 641, Gilgit-Baltistan 430 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir 86.