Pennsylvania Division of Well being’s New Discovering Earns CDC Recognition for Safeguarding Transplant Recipients towards Extreme Lung Infections

The Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC) has introduced that the Pennsylvania Division of Well being has turn into the primary in america to determine the transmission of Legionella from an organ on to a transplant affected person. This discovery has the potential to forestall the switch of Legionella in future transplant recipients. The Division’s staff of epidemiologists, who examine the causes and patterns of ailments, found a suspected Legionella transmission from a single donor lung to 2 recipients. Usually, transplant sufferers with weakened immune methods are at an elevated threat of contracting Legionella from the surroundings after receiving a transplant. Nevertheless, the Division’s analysis reveals that the 2 transplant recipients on this case have been contaminated by the organ itself, fairly than the surroundings. Dr. Debra Bogen, Pennsylvania Appearing Secretary of Well being, expressed satisfaction within the division’s epidemiologists for this groundbreaking discovery and their potential to enhance affected person outcomes and cut back severe lung infections amongst transplant recipients.

Legionella micro organism is liable for inflicting Legionnaires illness, which is a extreme type of pneumonia. In 2022, the CDC and the Pennsylvania Division of Well being investigated instances of Legionnaires illness in two transplant sufferers who each acquired a single lung from the identical donor. To find out if the infections have been transmitted via the transplanted organs and to determine different probably at-risk sufferers, investigators studied CT scans, examined specimens for Legionella, and reviewed water high quality parameters and Legionella testing data from the transplant hospital. Immediate identification of Legionella an infection is essential for efficient remedy and to forestall additional problems.

The Pennsylvania Division of Well being’s analysis on this transmission of Legionella from organ to transplant recipient has been revealed within the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). For media inquiries, please contact Mark O’Neill at ra-dhpressoffice@pa.gov.