No patient left behind: A multilayered approach to mitigate COVID‐19 in transplant recipients

Abstract

No patient left behind: A multilayered approach to mitigate COVID-19 in transplant recipientsSevere outcomes from infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) have preferentially affected immunocompromised individuals, including solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients. In the first major report of a multicenter cohort of SOT recipients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the majority (78%) required hospitalization and, of these, 31% required invasive mechanical ventilation and 20.5% died within 28 days of diagnosis. 1 Through the rapid development of SARS-CoV-2 tests, therapeutics, and vaccines, outcomes of COVID-19 have fortunately improved greatly since the start of the pandemic. In this issue of Transplant Infectious Disease, Dr. Anjan and colleagues describe the outcomes of SOT recipients with COVID-19 during a period dominated by the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron B.1.1.529 variant. 2 Among 166 SOT patients, 39% were hospitalized, including 12.3% requiring invasive mechanical ventilation and 9.2% died within 31 days of diagnosis. While these rates are comparably more favorable than historical data in early 2020, these outcomes remain far from optimal.Multiple factors account for the improving outcomes of COVID-19 in the general population, and in SOT populations (Figure 1).

Protecting the vulnerable: addressing the COVID-19 care needs of people with compromised immunity

“…In May 2023, COVID-19 stopped being regarded as a global health emergency ( 52 ). The non-pharmacological interventions that had a positive impact on the course of the disease, such as free at-home rapid diagnostic tools, social distancing, and wearing masks, became less frequently implemented ( 53 ).…”