Announcements: New Resources on Transplantation Safety

	MMWR Weekly Volume 62, No. 25 June 28, 2013

Announcements: New Resources on Transplantation Safety

Weekly

June 28, 2013 / 62(25);526

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has released the 2013 PHS Guideline for Reducing Human Immunodeficiency Virus, Hepatitis B Virus, and Hepatitis C Virus Transmission Through Organ Transplantation (1), available online at http://www.publichealthreports.org/issueopen.cfm?articleID=2975. This guideline updates the 1994 U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) Guidelines for Preventing Transmission of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Through Transplantation of Human Tissue and Organs (2).
Major changes from the 1994 PHS guidelines are that the 2013 PHS guideline includes 1) recommendations that organ donors be screened for hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) in addition to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV); 2) recommendations for new, more sensitive laboratory testing; and 3) inclusion of a revised set of risk factors for HIV, HBV, and HCV infection. CDC's Solid Organ Transplantation and the Probability of Transmitting HIV, HBV, or HCV: A Systematic Review to Support an Evidence-Based Guideline (3) comprises the primary evidence underlying the recommendations in the 2013 PHS guideline.
In addition, CDC recently launched a website devoted to transplant safety, which features 1) the role of CDC and other agencies and organizations involved in organ and tissue safety; 2) donor screening and testing requirements; and 3) information for health-care providers. The website can be accessed at http://www.cdc.gov/transplantsafety.

References

1. Seem DL, Lee I, Umscheid CA, Kuehnert MJ. PHS guideline for reducing human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis B virus, and hepatitis C virus transmission through organ transplantation. Public Health Rep 2013;128:247–343.
2. CDC. Guidelines for preventing transmission of human immunodeficiency virus through transplantation of human tissue and organs. MMWR 1994;43(No. RR-8).
3. CDC. Solid organ transplantation and the probability of transmitting HIV, HBV, or HCV: a systematic review to support an evidence-based guideline. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC; 2013. Available at http://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/12164/.