Transplantation in Asia during the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic: briefs from member countries of the Asian Society of Transplantation

Abstract

The coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected 1,029,968 people in Asia as of May 16, 2020. Although Asia was the first continent to be affected, many countries in the region continue to battle COVID-19, which challenges the way transplant programs provide their services. Given the diversity of healthcare systems in Asia, the countermeasures in response to COVID-19 are as potentially diverse. This review reports the experiences of transplant services in member countries of the Asian Society of Transplantation (AST) as well as provides a platform for sharing of best practices during the COVID-19 pandemic. AST invited member countries to provide a short description of their transplant experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Whenever information is available, countries were asked to provide information on COVID-19 related statistics, status of transplant programs, mitigation measures taken to prevent COVID-19, and other areas of transplant programs impacted by COVID-19. Ten countries responded to the invitation of which seven still have active transplant programs at varying levels of activity. All countries have protocols for donor/recipient screening and countermeasures to prevent COVID-19 infections in recipients and healthcare providers. Interestingly, these countries report only 16 transplant recipients with COVID-19 infection but no cases of donor-transmitted COVID-19 infection. Despite the diversity of healthcare systems in Asia, transplant centers in Asia have taken appropriate precautions to avoid COVID-19 infections, though the long-term impact of COVID-19 remains unclear.

Perpetual Lockdown: The State of COVID-19 and Kidney Disease in the Philippines

“…As it underwent lockdown on March 2020, all transplant centers ceased performing procedures to minimize the exposure of transplant patients to COVID-19. Deceased donor procurement activities were also suspended 9 . While some of the institutions have resumed performing a limited number of procedures this year, kidney transplantation in the country is effectively stifled for the foreseeable future.…”

Insights and pearls of healthcare systems management of COVID-19 in Asia and its relevance to Asian transplant services

“…Organ donation and transplantation in Asia have been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic but to varying degrees. Most countries had elected to shut down transplant services, but some countries permitted deceased donors and urgent transplantation to continue, such as Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore [ 17 ]. Noticeably, South Korea had most transplant programs remaining active during this time, which may account for the high rate of transplants being performed during the first 3 months of 2020 [ 18 ].…”

“…Despite the increased risks, most patients reported that they would choose immediate transplantation if there was no foreseeable end to the pandemic, especially if the medical urgency did not permit further delays. Finally, there is reassurance that the rate and mortality of COVID-19 infections in transplant recipients in Asia appear to be low [ 8 , 17 ]. This could be related to the pre-emptive defensive measures adopted by Asian transplant programs for their patients during this period, which was consistent across different Asian countries ( Table 1 ) [ 17 ].…”

Clinical characteristics, outcomes, and management of COVID-19 in kidney transplant recipients across Asia: an ASTREGO report

“…As of December 1, 2021, there are 82,141,978 cases of COVID-19 in Asia. This represents the highest case load among all continents, thus making Asia the new global epicenter of COVID- 19. Many transplant programs in Asia were either shut down or overwhelmed by the increasing incidence of COVID-19 cases; therefore, transplantation in Asia, which is a region with already low transplantation rates, was dealt another huge blow by the COVID-19 pandemic [1]. However, there is paucity of data on morbidity and mortality from COVID-19 involving transplant recipients in Asia.…”