Purpose To summarize and analyze the clinical characteristic, prophylaxis and treatment of rabies transmitted through solid organ transplant. Methods Four recipients and their donors diagnosed as rabies were reviewed. Saliva, urine, and sputum samples from recipients were collected for the detection of rabies virus by RT-PCR. Other reports were reviewed via PubMed. Results One donor was a 6-year old boy, died of viral encephalitis. Another donor was a 11-year old girl, died with an initial diagnosis of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis. Four kidneys and a liver were donated for transplantation. 4 of 5 recipients had neurological symptoms and died successively. The samples were positive for rabies virus nucleic acid. One kidney transplant recipient was asymptomatic, who received post-exposure prophylaxis after confirmation of rabies from the dead recipient. From previous studies, totally 7 of 11 patients died whenever they were infected with rabies through solid organ transplant. Conclusions Rabies transmitted through solid organ transplant is a big issue in China, with a high mortality. It may be the only possible effective period to prevent from transmission before onset of symptoms. Organs should be abandoned whenever rabies is confirmed or suspicious. Whenever rabies from donor is confirmed after transplant, recipients must be informed immediately to receive prophylaxis.

CITATION INFORMATION: Zhang J., Lin J., Tian Y., Ma L., Sun W., Zhang L., Zhu Y., Qiu W., Zhang L. Transmission of Rabies through Solid Organ Transplant: A Big Issue in China Am J Transplant. 2017;17 (suppl 3).

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