No organ donation from viral infection patients, say doctors

Hyderabad: A Jeevandan team declined an offer to harvest organs of a 48-year-old dengue patient from Rangareddy who was declared brain dead after being on the ventilator for four days.

The patient was undergoing treatment at a prominent private hospital in the city and his condition continued to worsen due to dengue shock syndrome.

Following the confirmation of brain death, the doctors informed the patient's family of the situation. "The patient's family, comprised of doctors, immediately offered to donate his organs once they understood he had suffered brain death. The Jeevandan team was put in touch and they explained to them that organ donation is not possible in such cases," said a hospital official.

The official further noted that the hospital had seen at least two similar cases of donation rejections in the past two months. In another case, a middle-aged male patient admitted to the Osmania General Hospital (OGH) with respiratory illness had succumbed during treatment.

"The patient was declared brain dead but had active tuberculosis. Although the family was keen on donating the organs, we had to decline the donation due to the tuberculosis. Organs cannot be harvested from immunocompromised patients and patients who had dengue, malaria, and other viral diseases," said Dr Bhanu Chandra, senior transplant coordinator for Jeevandan at OGH.