SIUT calls for special measures to protect high-risk patients from Covid-19.

KARACHI -- Medical experts at the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) have underscored the need for adopting a special strategy to protect patients with compromised immune system from Covid-19 and managing them in specialised units.

These high-risk patients include those who have a transplant and are dependent on life-long dialysis or suffering from cancer.

A medical investigation carried out by a clinical team at the institute shows there are over 16,000 patients who fall in the follow-up category of immunocompromised patients listed with the institute.

These patients, experts pointed out, faced a higher risk of serious illness from the coronavirus as their immunity to fight the infection was severely compromised.

The situation, according to them, gets more complicated because treatment of Covid-19 for this segment of population is a complex task.

Patients on dialysis are partially immunocompromised, and threat of a high risk of infection due to close contact with blood and body fluids of patients requires close and intensive monitoring.

The investigation also highlights that the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has underscored the need for managing these patients in specialised units like SIUT which has the largest centre in the country...