ABSTRACT
Due to immunosuppressive therapy, transplant patients are more susceptible to viral and bacterial infections. A potentially deadly new virus haunted us in 2020: SARS-CoV2, causing coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19). We analyzed the consequences of this previously unknown risk for our living-donor transplant program in the first year of the pandemic. After the complete lockdown in spring 2020, our transplant center in Linz resumed the living-donor kidney transplantation program from June to September 2020, between the first and second waves of COVID-19 in Austria. We compared the outcomes of these living-donor kidney transplantations with the transplant outcomes of the corresponding periods of the three previous years. From June 4 to September 9, 2020, five living-donor kidney transplantations were performed. All donors and recipients were screened for COVID 19 infection by PCR testing the day before surgery. Kidney transplant recipients remained isolated in single rooms until discharge from hospital. All recipients and donors remained SARS-CoV2 negative during the follow-up of 10 months and have been fully vaccinated to date. The number of living transplants in the studied period of 2020 was constant compared to the same months of 2017, 2018, and 2019. Living-donor kidney transplantation can be continued using testing for SARS-CoV2 and meticulous hygienic precautions in epidemiologically favorable phases of the SARS-CoV2 pandemic. Donors and recipients should be carefully selected and informed about risks and benefits.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Health care services across the world have been enormously affected by the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Services in oncology have been curtailed because medical services have been focused on preventing the spread of the virus and maximizing the number of available hospital beds. The present study was designed to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on cancer screening. METHODS: Databases such as Medline, Web of Science Core Collection (Indexes = SCI-EXPANDED, SSCI, A & HCI Timespan) and Scopus were searched comprehensively for articles published until January 2021. The keywords used were COVID-19 and cancer screening, Articles dealing with cancer screening in the COVID-19 pandemic were included in the review. RESULTS: The review comprised 17 publications. The impact of COVID-19 was categorized into four dimensions: a significant decline in cancer screening and pathology samples, the cancer diagnosis rate, an increase in advanced cancers, mortality rate and years of life lost (YLLs). CONCLUSION: Cancer screening programs have been clearly interrupted since the onset of the COVID-19 disease. The anticipated outcomes include delayed diagnosis and marked increases in the numbers of avoidable cancer deaths. Urgent policy interventions are needed to handle the backlog of routine diagnostic services and minimize the harmful effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer patients.
ABSTRACT
At the end of 2019, we received reports of abnormally high rates of severe pneumonia and mortality in a city named Wuhan in the province of Hubei in China [...].