Six people became infected with HIV after receiving new organs from a donation service in Rio de Janeiro.
This is reported by Reuters, citing the Brazilian Ministry of Health.
It all started when one of the heart transplant patients reported a deterioration in his health. Doctors performed several tests on him, including an HIV test, which came back positive. As a result, two more patients who received kidneys were tested and were also confirmed to have HIV.
Details on the condition of the other three patients have not yet been released.
An investigation is underway. Police are investigating the circumstances under which HIV was transmitted, including who is responsible for erroneous test results from two donors who donated organs to six people.
Worst of all, this situation can undermine public confidence in the donor service and reduce the number of potential donors. Organ transplants have been carried out in Rio de Janeiro since 2006. During this time, more than 16 thousand people received organs from donors.
Recall that Cursor reported that Israeli scientists have developed a revolutionary method to preserve organs for transplants, based on the use of antifreeze proteins. A team from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, led by Professor Ido Braslavsky, has made significant progress in preserving organs by freezing them, allowing them to significantly extend their useful life.
In general, the problem of a shortage of organs for transplantation remains serious: many patients die without waiting for a life-saving transplant. However, even when organs are available, they often have to be discarded due to ineffective storage methods. Every year, thousands of potentially life-saving organs are lost due to damage caused by freezing. These injuries are caused by the crystallization of ice, which destroys the cellular structures of the organs.
