{"id":30206,"date":"2020-04-21T14:17:15","date_gmt":"2020-04-21T19:17:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/?p=30206"},"modified":"2020-06-11T00:20:06","modified_gmt":"2020-06-11T05:20:06","slug":"covidtransplantchanges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2020\/04\/covidtransplantchanges\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID-19 has transformed the business of organ transplants"},"content":{"rendered":"
The COVID-19 global pandemic has slowed the transfer of vital organs for transplants. Testing for the disease caused by the novel coronavirus now extends to deceased persons who receive the same nasal swabs that make living patients flinch.<\/p>\n
The public\u2019s limited movement, thanks to stay-at-home orders and social distancing, means fewer of the accidents and other traumatic events that generate organ donation. Some people anticipating transplants have been inactivated, temporarily, from the national waitlist because of the coronavirus crisis.<\/p>\n
Despite a dwindling supply, surgeons are declining organs from coronavirus hot spots. In addition, concern about the availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) has halted live donor transplants at local transplant centers.<\/p>\n
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: \u201cWe are not recovering organs and transplant centers are not transplanting organs from donors who have positive tests for COVID-19,\u201d said Kevin Myer, president and CEO of LifeGift<\/a>, a Houston-based organ procurement organization that serves 109 Texas counties and more than 200 hospitals, including transplant centers in the Texas Medical Center. \u201cDepending on where you are in the country\u2014obviously in New York and Seattle and in other places\u2014transplantation slowed down, but it didn\u2019t stop and it still hasn\u2019t stopped.\u201d<\/p>\n The prospect of eclipsing 2019\u2014a record year for organ donations and transplants in the United States\u2014may be fading as COVID-19 cases continue to rise across the country.<\/p>\n Still, the transplant community maintains hope, for now, especially because April is National Donate Life Month<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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