Scientists use vaccination to successfully treat COVID-19 for first time
Baku, March 29, AZERTAC
Doctors have successfully used vaccination to treat a patient with COVID-19 in what is thought to be the first instance of the vaccine being used for therapy instead of prevention, according to the Cardiff University.
Ian Lester, 37, a dispensing optician from Pontypridd who has a rare genetic immunodeficiency, tested positive for COVID-19 for seven-and-a-half months after catching the virus.
The virus was finally cleared from his body after clinicians from the Immunodeficiency Centre for Wales used two doses of the Pfizer vaccine to treat him and scientists from Cardiff University monitored his immune system’s response.
It suggests the vaccine successfully kick-started Mr Lester’s immune system to clear the virus - and it is now hoped this approach could be used to treat other patients who are immune compromised.
Researchers at the Centre, based at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, also saw a strong T-cell response - the arm of the immune system thought to be crucial to fighting off the virus.
Dr Mark Ponsford, a clinician scientist from Cardiff University’s School of Medicine, said SARS-CoV-2 clearance was finally confirmed 72 days after the first vaccination dose, and 218 days since it was first detected.
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