No Need Seen to Screen Potential Organ Donors for SARS

Despite growing concern over the spread of SARS, neither the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) nor the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued recommendations for organ procurement organizations, tissue banks, or transplant programs to assess potential donors for signs of the highly infectious respiratory illness.

But the FDA this week suggested that tissue establishments consider implementing donor screening practices similar to those in the FDA guidance for organizations involved in collecting blood and blood products.

There has been no suggestion to date that SARS may have been transmitted in the United States or any other country through donated organs.

But the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) issued a notice to organizations associated with organ transplantation calling their attention to the FDA document titled "Guidance for Industry: Recommendations for the Assessment of Donor Suitability and Blood Product Safety in Cases of Suspected Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) or Exposure to SARS."

The Association of Organ Procurement Organizations (AOPO) also issued guidance to its members, saying it would "seem prudent to communicate at the time of an organ donor offer whether the donor had traveled to endemic areas defined by the CDC within seven days of being declared brain dead."

DHHS said it "will continue to monitor the situation with the CDC and the FDA and provide periodic updates to the transplant community as warranted."

Other Sources: DHHS