Medical professionals are advocating for strict adherence to screening organ donors for parasites to prevent the spread of Strongyloides stercoralis, according to Medscape.
Here are seven takeaways:
1. Researchers found strict adherence to screening guidelines for organ transplantation, when couples with efficient communication, can help prevent the spread of Strongyloides stercoralis.
2. The parasite is estimated to be carried by 100 million people around the world and is endemic in tropical and subtropical regions, especially in South America and parts of Africa.
3. The American Society for Transplantation guidelines state transplant candidates and donors with epidemiologic risk factors or unexplained eosinophilia must be evaluated for Strongyloides stercoralis.
4. The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network mandates donor recovery hospitals to communicate a donor's test results that could be relevant to acute patient care to transplant programs, tissue banks and organizations that receive tissue or organs.
5. Many facilitates are failing to screen for the parasite because of a lack of awareness about at-risk candidates. Because the parasite is only endemic in certain parts of the world, it is not necessary that everyone be screened. Additionally, donor-derived infections are not very common.
6. There have been nearly 1,500 reports to the organ vigilance system, leading to the confirmation of disease transmission in 317 recipients since the requirement to report potential donor-derived disease transmission was established a decade ago. Of those reports, 29 percent recipients with confirmed transmission died from the transmitted infection.
7. Some medical professionals advocate for broader screenings, although some centers may not choose to use a donor because they do not understand the testing's implications.
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