ANN ARBOR, Michigan (WJRT) – (21/02/21) – The University of Michigan School of Medicine reported what could be the first proven case of COVID-19 transmission through an organ transplant.
The American Journal of Transplantation investigation said an Ann Arbor woman contracted COVID-19 and died last fall after receiving a contaminated double lung transplant.
The organ donor was said to have the virus, although they had shown no signs of disease and initially tested negative.
The researchers said that three days after the operation the recipient’s health declined. They said samples from their new lungs turned positive for COVID-19.
Doctors said a surgeon manipulating the donor’s lungs had also been infected with the virus, but that he had later recovered.
The case required more thorough testing of lung transplant donors.
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