A patient who received an organ transplant in Michigan died of rabies earlier this year, which is a highly unusual and tragic medical event. Health authorities have confirmed that the virus was transmitted through a donated organ, which is a rare but established risk of transplant surgery.
The patient passed away several weeks later, in January, after receiving the transplant surgery in an Ohio hospital during December. An immediate investigation was launched for this case, as confirmed by Michigan Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Lynn Sutfin.
With assistance from the Ohio Department of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), researchers found that the organ transplant recipient died of rabies after contracting the virus from the donor organ. Officials did not disclose the specific organ involved in the transplant.
The deadly viral infection rabies transmits rapidly and is typically picked up by having contact with sick animals. It begins as flu-like and advances to paralysis, hallucinations, and demise. Rabies is virtually always fatal when symptoms begin.
The CDC states that fewer than 10 Americans die of rabies annually, and that deaths due to organ transplant-associated rabies are extremely rare. A kidney recipient also died from the infection in 2013, one of the few previous cases.
Even though there is a complete screening process for organ donation in America, including searching for neurological abnormalities, risk of infection, and certain viral symptoms, rabies is notoriously difficult to detect in its initial stages. Cases such as these grow even worse and uncontrollable by extension.
Although it is rare, this tragedy has brought with it fresh debates regarding potential vulnerabilities in organ donor screening processes. But Sutfin reassured everyone that the overall population is not presently at risk.
In a public statement, Sutfin stated, “Health officials worked together to ensure that persons, including healthcare professionals, who had contact with the Michigan patient were assessed for possible exposure to rabies.” “Where appropriate, post-exposure treatment was administered.”
While this is a tragic case, specialists point out that there is little likelihood that it will happen again. It does, however, highlight the extent to which it is important to improve transplant safety protocols.
While organ donation will save lives, safety always has to be the top priority. While the transplant community and public health agencies sort out the aftermath of this disaster, eyes are now turning to preventing similar tragedies.
