Possible New West Nile Virus Infection From Transplant Probed

Illinois state health officials report they are investigating the possibility that a man who died this month contracted West Nile virus from a kidney transplant.

Clyde D. Alesandrini, 62, of Canton received a kidney transplant on Sept. 23 at OSF St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria but died Oct. 22 of West Nile virus.

Chris Lofgren, a spokesperson for the hospital, said a sample of Alesandrini's blood taken before the transplant has been sent to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. He said Alexandrini also had received blood transfusions following his transplant, making that another possible route of transmission of the virus.

Tom Schafer, spokesperson for the Illinois Department of Public Health, said state officials were studying four Illinois cases of the West Nile virus among patients who received organ transplants, blood transfusions or blood products.

Four transplant patients were infected in August with the West Nile virus from the donated organs of a Georgia woman in what was the world's first known case of human-to-human transmission (see earlier Transplant Week story).

No case of transmission of West Nile virus through blood or organ transplants had previously been reported in this country, according to the CDC. All previous cases have been contracted through contact with mosquitoes.

Other sources: OSF St. Francis, CDC