At the start of the pandemic, many hospitals were not willing to provide patients with organ transplants. This was due to the fear of the unknown risks of the virus and whether a patient who had suffered through covid-19 would be able to survive a transplant. Doctors are stating that covid had completely destroyed organs and more people than ever are seeking new organs. Heart and lung transplants top the list. These same doctors are saying that there will be a continuous uptick in necessary transplants as covid still runs rampant and the list is still full of people who need organs for non covid related illnesses. The article speaks of the issues caused by covid. It states that, “thousands of covid survivors have developed ARDS, or acute respiratory distress syndrome, which allows fluid to leak into the lungs. Others develop pulmonary fibrosis, which occurs when lung tissue becomes scarred”. Many of these patients end up on ventilators and “many become stranded on the machines, so sick that their only options are transplantation or death”. Many in this state are not eligible for transplant due to preexisting conditions or being under sedation for too long. Before covid, these types of transplants did not exist at all. Now we see what appears to be a new style and limit of transplantation. Medicine is adapting to the new world.
Source: COVID Spawns “Completely New Category” of Organ Transplants by JoNel Aleccia via khn.org