Can deceased Covid-19 people donate their organs?

Despite the epidemic of new coronavirus and the resulting confinement, it is still possible, even necessary, to donate blood. Regarding the organ harvesting and transplant activity, the Biomedicine Agency recommends "postponing the date of operations, if the recipient's risk of being infected exceeds the benefit of transplantation". A 20-minute reader asks, however, what about the samples taken from deceased Covid-19 people:

"If I die from coronavirus, can my organs still be donated?" »Fred

Here are the answers we found:

There are two kinds of donation: that of living donors and deceased donors, recalls with 20 Minutes Professor Olivier Bastien, director of the organ and tissue removal and transplant activity in France at the Agence de Biomedicine. "For the former, the transplants are officially suspended, whether they are contaminated with Covid-19 or not," he insists. But the assessments can continue with the medical team, taking care of course to protect themselves, to make this donation when the crisis is over. "

All donors are systematically tested to ensure there is no risk of transmission. # Transplant # transplantation # COVID19

As for the latter, “the deceased donors, positive for Covid-19, the High Council for Public Health did not prohibit the removal of their vital organs, more precisely the heart and the liver. It is in any case up to the medical team to decide. For the lung, it was considered that the risk was not acceptable and that an organ should not be removed from an infected person. "

However, "so far, the situation has not really presented itself," says Professor Olivier Bastien. This is because donors are systematically tested [at Covid-19]. In addition, in all emergency situations, a negative donor has always been found [at Covid-19]. "In addition," all transplant recipients who were infected with the new coronavirus were old transplant recipients, that is to say that they developed the infection outside the transplant, "said the expert.

Our file on the coronavirus

As a reminder, so far, no study has shown that Covid-19 is transmitted by blood. Anyone wishing to donate must continue to donate, said the EFS.

So that you can see more clearly, 20 Minutes is trying to answer your questions, which you can send us by following the procedure below. And don't forget to leave your email. Thank you in advance (and take care of yourself)!

Health

Donations plummeting, the French Blood Establishment calls for help

• Video
• Organ donation
• Health
• Coronavirus
• Covid 19
• Society