In the last several years, CDC participated in more than 200 investigations where infected organs were reportedly transplanted into other recipients. Dozens of these transmissions were confirmed, and some of these led to the death of the transplant recipient. In an effort to protect patients, CDC

led a multidisciplinary group of transplant and infection prevention experts through a systematic review of the best available evidence to update standards for safe transplants. These proposed recommendations call for more thorough donor screening and more advanced organ testing to help protect patients from infections such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and hepatitis C virus (HCV).

The full draft guidelines can be found on Regulations.gov, and CDC encourages review and response during the 60-day comment period.

Also, join a discussion with Dr. Matthew Kuehnert on the guidelines on today’s CDC Safe Healthcare Blog, http://blogs.cdc.gov/safehealthcare.

CDC: Protect Organ Transplant Patients from Unintended Disease Transmission

Categories: Healthcare-associated infections, Organ Transplant Safety

September 21st, 2011 1:39 pm ET -

Matthew J. Kuehnert, MD

Author: Matthew J. Kuehnert, MD,
Director, Office of Blood, Organ, and Other Tissue Safety

Over the past few years, my team at the CDC looked into more than 200 reports of unexpected disease transmission through organ transplantation. Of the cases that were confirmed, some had fatal outcomes. Clearly, transmission of infections through organ transplants remains a patient safety concern that calls for action.

To help address the problem, CDC recently led a team of experts to develop the Draft 2011 Public Health Service (PHS) Guideline for Reducing Transmission of HIV, HBV, and HCV through Solid Organ Transplantation. The guideline was posted to the Federal Register

today, and I encourage your review and comment.

While recognizing the critical need for organs, our team also wants to ensure recipients are protected from getting unexpected diseases from the organs they receive. After taking a critical, unbiased look at the best available science, I believe recommendations in the draft guideline will save lives and reduce unintended disease in organ recipients. Specific recommendations include improved donor screening practices and better organ testing procedures that will allow patients and their doctors to make more informed risk/benefit decisions about available organs.

I encourage you to review the draft guideline, share it with others who may be interested, and submit comments during the 60-day public comment period.

Please visit these additional websites for more information:
www.regulations.gov

http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2011/s0921_organ_transplant.html

full-text>>
CDC - Blogs - Safe Healthcare – CDC: Protect Organ Transplant Patients from Unintended Disease Transmission