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Organ transplantation during SARS-CoV-2 epidemic : the 2020-2021 Liege transplant Center experience
Paolucci M , Delbouille MH , Weekers L , Warling O , Ledoux D , Massion P , Ancion A , Tchana-Sato V , Detry O
Rev Med Liege 2021, 76(10),719-723Abstract : The «Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2» (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has disrupted medical care and intra-hospital organization during 2020, both in Belgium and throughout the world. Solid organ transplantation was not spared and in Belgium, the number of organ donors and transplants overall decreased by 20 % for livers and by 33 % for hearts between 2019 and 2020. The aim of this article is to summarize the experience acquired in 2020 and 2021 on the organizational and medical implications of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic with regard to the care of patients transplanted or awaiting for organ transplants, and to draw conclusions both for the aftermath of COVID-19 but also for future pandemics. Vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 is highly recommended and particularly important in organ transplant recipients, even if the response rate is lower than in the non-transplanted population. A third injection is now advised in immunosuppressed patients.
