COVID‐19: A global transplant perspective on successfully navigating a pandemic

• Published in: American journal of transplantation Vol. 20; no. 7; pp. 1773 - 1779
• Main Authors: Kumar, Deepali, Manuel, Oriol, Natori, Yoichiro, Egawa, Hiroto, Grossi, Paolo, Han, Sang‐Hoon, Fernández‐Ruiz, Mario, Humar, Atul
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Limited 01.07.2020; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Betacoronavirus; Clinical decision making; clinical research/practice; Coronavirus Infections - complications; Coronavirus Infections - prevention & control; COVID-19; Decision Making; Donor Selection; donors and donation: donor‐derived infections; Global Health; Humans; infection and infectious agents – viral; infectious disease; Infectious Disease Medicine - organization & administration; Infectious diseases; Organ Transplantation - trends; organ transplantation in general; Pandemics; Pandemics - prevention & control; Personal Viewpoint; Personal Viewpoints; Pneumonia, Viral - complications; Pneumonia, Viral - prevention & control; Resource utilization; SARS-CoV-2; Tissue and Organ Procurement - standards; Tissue Donors; Transplantation; Transplants; Transplants & implants; Vulnerable Populations; clinical decision-making; infectious disease; organ transplantation in general; infection and infectious agents - viral; clinical research/practice; donors and donation: donor-derived infections
• ISSN: 1600-6135; 1600-6143; 1600-6143
• DOI: 10.1111/ajt.15876

The COVID‐19 pandemic has rapidly evolved and changed our way of life in an unprecedented manner. The emergence of COVID‐19 has impacted transplantation worldwide. The impact has not been just restricted to issues pertaining to donors or recipients, but also health‐care resource utilization as the intensity of cases in certain jurisdictions exceeds available capacity. Here we provide a personal viewpoint representing different jurisdictions from around the world in order to outline the impact of the current COVID‐19 pandemic on organ transplantation. Based on our collective experience, we discuss mitigation strategies such as donor screening, resource planning, and a staged approach to transplant volume considerations as local resource issues demand. We also discuss issues related to transplant‐related research during the pandemic, the role of transplant infectious diseases, and the influence of transplant societies for education and disseminating current information. The authors discuss the impact of COVID‐19 on donation and transplantation and provide a global framework for donor screening and management of transplant activity during the pandemic.