Low rate of detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in deceased tissue donors

Given the possibility for disease transmission, this study was performed to determine whether there is detectable SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA in the blood of deceased tissue donors. A retrospective analysis of blood samples from eligible deceased tissue donors from Oct 2019 through June 2020 was performed....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cell and tissue banking 2023-09, Vol.24 (3), p.585-596
Main Authors: Greenwald, Melissa A., Grebe, Eduard, Green, Valerie, Jones, Alyce Linthurst, Linnen, Jeffrey M., Williamson, Phillip, Busch, Michael P., Kuehnert, Matthew J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biomedicine
Cell Biology
Disease transmission
Donors
Full Length Paper
Life Sciences
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
Transplant Surgery
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Summary:Given the possibility for disease transmission, this study was performed to determine whether there is detectable SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA in the blood of deceased tissue donors. A retrospective analysis of blood samples from eligible deceased tissue donors from Oct 2019 through June 2020 was performed. Plasma aliquots were initially tested with a SARS-CoV-2 NAT Assay; positive samples were further tested using an alternate NAT and an antibody assay. The proportion of donors with confirmed RNAemia and 95% confidence intervals were computed. Of donor samples collected in 2019, 894 yielded valid results, with 6 initially positive, none of which confirmed positive by alternate NAT. Of donor samples collected in 2020, 2562 yielded valid initial NAT results, with 21 (0.8%) initially positive. Among those, 3 were confirmed by alternate NAT, 17 were not confirmed, and 1 had an invalid alternate NAT result. The rate of SARS-CoV-2 RNAemia in deceased tissue donors is approximately 1 per 1000, and it is unknown whether this RNAemia reflects the presence of infectious virus. Given these results, the risk of transmission through tissue is thought likely to be low.
ISSN:1389-9333
1573-6814
DOI:10.1007/s10561-022-10054-0