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Managing Anxiety as a Transplant Patient in a COVID-19 World

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Transplant recipients never needed a COVID-19 pandemic to be anxious about infections.

Long before the pandemic, living with a transplanted organ had its own caution, stress, and anxiety about illness.

Throw social isolation into the mix and your anxiety is only made worse.

Social Distancing’s Impact on Transplant Recipients Mental Health

Isabel Stenzel Byrnes has lived 16 years with a double-lung transplant. Byrnes is a licensed social worker and grief counselor from California who says she started to feel the effects of social isolation about two months into the pandemic.

“I was starting to really find myself in a slump, and missing the energy shared with human beings,” said Byrnes, who copes by taking socially distanced walks with people.

One positive aspect of life during COVID-19 is that today we have computers, tablets, and Smartphones, which can be useful resources to visually and auditorily connect transplant recipients with their doctors, nurses, psychiatrists, social workers, colleagues, and friends.

Read the full article, here.

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What Are the Benefits of Transplant Recipients Doing Home Blood Draws?

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We have been living in a COVID-19 world for close to a year now, and the pandemic has changed society’s routines and forced it to delay—or go without—many things.

As a transplant recipient, however, you know that you cannot delay—or go without—certain things, especially those related to your care.

Routine check-ups with your transplant team can help detect transplant complications.

Labs are also incredibly important for transplant recipients like yourself because they asses the ongoing health of your transplanted kidney or heart. If you are a kidney-transplant recipient, important regular labs that you may need include:

  • AlloSure® or KidneyCare
  • Complete Blood Count
  • Anti-rejection-med levels (eg., Tacrolimus, Sirolimus, Cyclosporin, Everolimus)
  • Urinary Protein/Creatinine Ratio
  • Complete Metabolic Profile + Mg + Phos
  • Viral PCR (BK/CMV/EBV)
  • Urinary Protein / Creatinine Ratio

If you are a heart-transplant recipient, important regular labs that you may need include:

  • AlloSure or HeartCare
  • Complete Blood Count
  • Anti-rejection med levels (eg., Tacrolimus, Sirolimus, Cyclosporin, Everolimus)
  • Comprehensive Metabolic Panel + Mg + Phos
  • Viral PCR (BK/CMV/EBV)

Read the full article, here.

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The reason I qualify for a Covid-19 vaccine has nothing to do with the fact that I’m immunocompromised. That needs to change

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“My cell phone rang on a Sunday afternoon in early March and I answered it immediately. It was my friend, a doctor who specializes in epidemiology and infectious diseases. She warned me that the coronavirus was about to surge in New York City and recommended that if I could flee the city and retreat to my parents’ house, I should do it, and fast.

I hung up the phone, called my parents, rented a car, packed my bags and drove 13 hours from New York City to the suburbs of Chicago the next morning. Meanwhile, my friends were still going out to dinner and going into work. I could tell my coworkers and roommate thought I was being absurd, but I couldn’t afford to care about their opinions. I had simply fought too hard for all 27 years of my life, I couldn’t lose it here.”

Read the full piece, here.

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COVID-19 after kidney transplantation: Early outcome and renal function following antiviral treatment

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Highlights

  • During COVID-19, organ transplant recipients develop all forms of the disease
  • This Romanian centre has higher prevalence but similar outcome with other European centres
  • Mild and moderate COVID-19 has excellent patient and graft short-term outcome
  • Targeted antiviral therapies do not seem to impair kidney graft function

Download the full paper, here.

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Challenges Facing Transplant Patients in COVID-19 Era

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“Transplant patients have an increased risk of developing severe illness when infected with the novel coronavirus. Reports indicate a mortality rate of up to 28% among solid organ transplant patients hospitalized with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).1

Among the challenges that transplant recipients face is the drug-drug interactions associated with COVID-19 treatment and concomitant medications. For example, remdesivir increases the level of transaminase, which requires close monitoring of liver markers with transplant patients.1

Another challenge is the lack of a test that is sensitive enough to detect active COVID-19-infected donors prior to transplant. Therefore, it’s important to counsel solid organ donors to avoid crowds and monitor exposure for 14 days prior to transplant, whereas hematopoietic cell donors should avoid the crowd for 28 days prior to the scheduled transplant.1“

Read full article, here.

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NKF: Patients with kidney disease should be prioritized for COVID-19 vaccines

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“The National Kidney Foundation has released a statement urging the federal government to grant priority to patients with kidney disease and their contacts for receipt of COVID-19 vaccines.

According to the statement, it is a matter of “ethical allocation,” because this patient population is at high risk for severe outcomes if they contract the virus.”

Read the full article, here.

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FDA Panel Recommends Moderna’s COVID-19 Vaccine For Emergency Use

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“In a 20-0 vote, with 1 abstention, a panel of advisers to the Food and Drug Administration recommended that the COVID-19 vaccine being developed by Moderna be authorized for emergency use in adults during the pandemic.

The vote in favor of the vaccine was taken to answer the agency’s question: Do the benefits of the Moderna vaccine outweigh its risks for use in people 18 years of age and older.

The agency typically follows the advice of its expert advisers.

A quick FDA decision is expected given the state of the pandemic, of 94% effectiveness of the Moderna vaccine in preventing COVID-19 and a determination by the FDA that there are no specific safety concerns that would stand in the way. The FDA authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine last Friday, a day after the same panel voted in favor of it.”

Read the full article, here.

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‘Healing Is Coming’: U.S. Starts Vaccinating People Against COVID-19

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The first people in the U.S. are receiving vaccination shots against COVID-19 on Monday, as U.S. health workers started administering the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.

The first widely publicized vaccination took place in New York City, shortly after 9 a.m. ET. The event was live-streamed and promoted by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who said, “The vaccine only works if the American people take it.”

Sandra Lindsay, a critical care nurse at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, was the first person to receive the vaccine at the event. She received a shot administered by Dr. Michelle Chester, director of employee health services at Northwell Health.

“I feel like healing is coming,” she said. “I hope this marks the beginning to the end of a very painful time in our history.”

Read the full article, here.

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FDA Takes Key Action in Fight Against COVID-19 By Issuing Emergency Use Authorization for First COVID-19 Vaccine

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“Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued the first emergency use authorization (EUA) for a vaccine for the prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in individuals 16 years of age and older. The emergency use authorization allows the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine to be distributed in the U.S.”

“The FDA’s authorization for emergency use of the first COVID-19 vaccine is a significant milestone in battling this devastating pandemic that has affected so many families in the United States and around the world,” said FDA Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn, M.D. “Today’s action follows an open and transparent review process that included input from independent scientific and public health experts and a thorough evaluation by the agency’s career scientists to ensure this vaccine met FDA’s rigorous, scientific standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality needed to support emergency use authorization. The tireless work to develop a new vaccine to prevent this novel, serious, and life-threatening disease in an expedited timeframe after its emergence is a true testament to scientific innovation and public-private collaboration worldwide.” 

Read the full press release, here.

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