Surgeons and other healthcare professionals specialising in solid organ transplants have been issued with expert advice to guide them through the complex clinical issues posed by the global H1N1 (swine flu) pandemic.
The paper, published online by the American Journal of Transplantation, also urges them to stay alert to the significant concerns that swine flu could combine with seasonal flu, and possibly even bird flu (H5N1), to develop into a strain with unpredictable virulence.
"The current virus pandemic can cause severe disease in transplant patients and could be transmitted from donors" explains assistant professor Dr Deepali Kumar, an expert in transplant-related infectious diseases from the University of Alberta, Canada. "This has major implications for donor selection and transplant management and care."
Dr Kumar has teamed up with infectious disease experts from across Canada and the USA to discuss the solid organ transplant guidance issued as part of the wider H1N1 guidelines produced by the American Society of Transplantation (AST) and The Transplantation Society (TTS), which are updated online as new information emerges.
The article, fast-tracked for online publication, has been produced on behalf of both societies and carries the additional endorsement of the Canadian Society of Transplantation.
It includes discussions about clinical presentation, diagnosis, therapy and prevention, specifically addressing areas such as chemoprophylaxis, immunization and donor-derived infection.
"Reaction to this novel respiratory virus in the transplant community has been swift, as clinicians have real concerns about the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the flu virus as public health data mounts and the course of the pandemic evolves" says Dr Kumar.
"The International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation has already developed guidelines for heart and lung transplant recipients in
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| Contact: Annette Whibley wizard.media@virgin.net Wiley-Blackwell Source:Eurekalert |