How scientists in Pakistan are working to help prevent the current outbreak?
As we are
witnessing incident rates, shooting each day in Pakistan and as always, we
criticize our country for what other countries have achieved. Each country has
their own problems and requires time to cope with it.
So, this
article is about achievements that our country did, during this period.
1. An inexpensive tool to diagnose COVID-19 : A kit, designed by two Associate Professors
of NUST, namely, Dr. Aneela Jawed and Dr. Ali Zohaib. Although it may seem
absurd to work on such a diagnostic tool that everyone is currently working on,
the unique feature of this kit is that it’s cheap (“NUST made”, 2020). In
Pakistan, most people can’t afford such tests and also, not being aware of how
the current pandemic is and why safety precautions are important. The kit is
based on assay, which can test lots of patients, as mentioned. The trial has
tested about 330 blinded samples (“NUST made”, 2020). Furthermore, it has been
guaranteed for its sensitivity of results (“NUST made”, 2020).
2. Passive Purification: The initial step taken to implement this technique, to treat COVID-19
patients was by Dr. Tahir Shamsi. However, this idea to cure diseases is old.
The method was implemented decades ago, treating diseases using animal plasma.
In this scenario, the patients are treated with plasma of recovered patients.
Furthermore, a research team of the Biotechnology team at DOW University of
Health Sciences, led by Dr. Shaukat Ali, has purified multiclonal antibodies
from plasma of recovered patients, to treat patients (“DOW varsity”, 2020).
Antibodies within plasma, having different binding sites for single antigen on
their variable region indicating binding of antibodies at different regions of
antigen (a.k.a epitopes) (Lipman et. al., 2005). Although, some criteria need
to be met. Not all recovered patients are able to donate their plasma. Thereby,
the screening for antibodies from recovered patients are necessary to donate
plasma to other patients, as well. The donation of plasma was reported in one
of the news reports of recovered
patient, named Mr. Jafar, donating his plasma, upon his recovery to help others
(“Coronavirus”, 2020).
3. The impact of genetic variants of ACE2 receptors on binding with S
protein: ACE2
receptors are proteins that are located on cell membranes and regulating blood
pressure ,hydrolysing Angiotensin 2. These receptors are located on lungs,
heart, intestine and kidneys and also act as a receptor for SARS-CoV2 to bind
with its S protein and further aids in viral entry into alveolar cells by
membrane fusion, upon catalysis of S protein. The binding site of ACE2
receptors are having high affinity with S protein, but depending on particular
residues within binding sites and around them (Hussain et. al., 2020). So, for
this study, a research group of Molecular Medicine, led by Dr. Mushtaq Hussain,
at DOW University of Health Science, Karachi, Pakistan, performed this study to
analyse the affinity of different variants of ACE2 receptors upon binding with
S protein (Hussain et. al., 2020). It was observed that changes in amino acid
sequence can affect the affinity and thereby, prevent pathogenicity of COVID-19. This study can be
useful to sort out patients, based on their genetic variants of ACE2 receptors
and could save resources to screen others for COVID-19.
4. New face masks: Like most countries, the increased rate of incidence in Pakistan has
made physicians to work 24/7. With so many cases to handle, the face masks
(i.e. N-95) are not available. So, a team at Jamshoro, from Mehran University
of Engineering and Technology, led by Dr. Zeeshan Khatri, has designed a mask
that is much safer than N-95 (“Sindh’s MUET”, 2020). This mask has four layers,
unlike N-95, which has three layers. The layers comprises: 1) nonwoven skincare
fabric, 2) nanofiber membrane, 3) nonwoven fabric, and, 4) anti-splash coating
(“Sindh’s MUET”, 2020). The nanofiber used has pores of about 100 nanometer in
diameter. This can block SARS-CoV2, due to the virus being of 150 to 200
nanometers wide (“Sindh’s MUET”, 2020). After its approval, Dr. Khatri, teamed
up with his colleague, set up a startup and sold these face masks to health
care professionals, within a month (“Sindh’s MUET”, 2020).
5. Screening yourself for COVID-19, while staying at your home: This screening method is not about another
lab test, where a phlebotomist comes at your home, draws your blood and goes
back to the lab for screening. It’s about an app, created by National Centre of Robotics & Automation
(NCRA), NUST College of Electrical & Mechanical Engineering (CEME) (“NUST
develops”, 2020). The app, named, ‘COVID CHECK PAKISTAN’, the first app for
screening COVID-19 in the world, to be an Urdu app, based on Android (“NUST
develops”, 2020). It is beneficial for us because, 1) It can be easily
understood by you and me or any other people, who understand Urdu, and, 2) It
enables us for initial screening, evaluating risks, just by staying at home
(“NUST develops”, 2020).
NOW WHAT??
About a month before, DRAP approved passive
immunization for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. And currently, hospitals
are having issues with regards to
shortage of plasma bags and appealing to recovered patients to donate their
plasma. Furthermore, if we look at the current condition of our area, it seems
that we are back to normal. Yes, we all are behaving normally, as though,
there’s no COVID-19. In fact, we don’t observe PPE. We are leaving out, either
without our masks, or exposing our mouths, while wearing masks. All in all, we
are not maintaining safety precautions.
In
brief,.....
It’s for sure, a disease, not a plot by
someone. Try searching and verify facts of whether such information is true or
false. We live in an era where we get bulk of information but don’t know how to
confirm its authenticity. It’s better not to depend on Chinese whispers or
rumours, but instead, check whether it’s true or not.
And also, Pakistan is not the country at its
worst. We are better than most countries. Still, there are scientists and
administrators, managing to decrease incident rates in Pakistan. They do need
their time with their family. So from now, make sure to observe safety
precautions and stay safe. As mentioned,......
STAY HOME,
STAY SAFE!!!
Written by:
Mohammad Irtaza Tafheem
REFERENCES:
DRAP
approves first made-in-Pakistan testing kit for Covid-19. (2020, June 12)
. Retrieved
from: https://tribune.com.pk/story/2241311/1-drap-approves-first-made-pakistan-testing-kit-covid-19/
Hussain,
M., Jabeen, N., Raza, F., Shabbir, S., Baig, A. A., Amanullah, A., & Aziz,
B. (2020). Structural variations in human ACE2 may influence its binding with
SARS‐CoV‐2 spike protein. Journal of medical virology.
Lipman, N.
S., Jackson, L. R., Trudel, L. J., & Weis-Garcia, F. (2005). Monoclonal
versus polyclonal antibodies: distinguishing characteristics, applications, and
information resources. ILAR journal, 46(3), 258-268.
NUST
develops bilingual app for Coronavirus screening.(2020, April 4). Retrieved
from: http://www.nust.edu.pk/News/Pages/NUST-develops-bilingual-app-for-Coronavirus-screening.aspx
|
NUST made diagnostic kits for COVID-19 get nods from DRAP over
successful lab trials. (2020, June 12), Retrieved from: http://www.nust.edu.pk/News/Pages/NUST-made-diagnostic-kits-for-COVID-19-get-nod-from-DRAP-over-successful-lab-trials.aspx
|
Sindh's
MUET comes up with N-95 substitute. (2020, April 30). Retrieved from:https://tribune.com.pk/story/2210200/1-sindhs-muet-comes-n-95-substitute/
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