A Maryland man has died after getting rabies from a donated kidney. The man received the kidney more than a year before rabies took his life. According to a March 16 report by The Star, contracting rabies from a transplanted organ is rare, but not unheard of.
A Maryland man has died after getting rabies from a donated kidney. The man received the kidney more than a year before rabies took his life. According to a March 16 report by The Star, contracting rabies from a transplanted organ is rare, but not unheard of.
Three other patients who also received organs from the the rabies-infected donor are doing well. They are not showing any signs of being infected with rabies.
It appears that the donor was infected with encephalitis. No one was aware the he had rabies. His organs were donated without ever being tested for rabies.
Testing for rabies is not usually done before organ transplants. The chances of getting rabies is low, especially from donated organs. Despite this, four people died in Texas from rabies they contracted from organ transplants. That was in 2004. Three people in Germany also died from rabies after receiving organ transplants in the same year.
To make the death of the man from Maryland even less likely, he died from “raccoon rabies.” Raccoon rabies is even more rare than other types of rabies. It is believed the organ donor contracted raccoon rabies while hunting in North Carolina.
At the time of publication, it was unknown if there will be any changes made in the screen process for donated organs. Although contracting rabies from donated organs is rare, it is still possible.
Three other patients who also received organs from the the rabies-infected donor are doing well. They are not showing any signs of being infected with rabies.
It appears that the donor was infected with encephalitis. No one was aware the he had rabies. His organs were donated without ever being tested for rabies.
Testing for rabies is not usually done before organ transplants. The chances of getting rabies is low, especially from donated organs. Despite this, four people died in Texas from rabies they contracted from organ transplants. That was in 2004. Three people in Germany also died from rabies after receiving organ transplants in the same year.
To make the death of the man from Maryland even less likely, he died from “raccoon rabies.” Raccoon rabies is even more rare than other types of rabies. It is believed the organ donor contracted raccoon rabies while hunting in North Carolina.
At the time of publication, it was unknown if there will be any changes made in the screen process for donated organs. Although contracting rabies from donated organs is rare, it is still possible.
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