On Organ Donation

As of October 2011, a reported 112,178 patients in the U.S. were awaiting organ donations and every 11 minutes another individual is added to the waiting list. Though an average of 75 people per day receive organ transplants daily and more than 86 million people in the U.S. are registered as donors, a critical shortage of organs remains. Increasing information about the importance of donation could help to encourage new donors and save lives.

Organs and tissues including heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, skin, and corneas can all be donated and transplanted. According to experts, the organs and tissue from a single donor could help as many as 50 recipients. There are no age restrictions for donors, and depending on the type of donation, organs may come from a deceased or living donor. Current data indicates that as of October 7, 2011 there had been 113,693 living donors and 143,662 deceased donors since the tracking of organ donation was initiated.

Any individual is eligible to register as an organ donor, though the process for registering varies by state. If an individual who was not a registered donor dies due to massive trauma to the brain or is declared brain dead and cannot be revived, the individual’s family members must authorize the donation of the individual’s organs. Only organs with blood and oxygen flowing through them at the time of donation are viable for transplant, and each must be transplanted within hours to help prevent rejection by the recipient. When organs become available, they must tissue and blood typed to identify the appropriate individual on the transplant waiting list who is a match, as well as ensuring that they are the appropriate size for the recipient.

The recovery of organs for transplant is performed by a team of surgeons, nurses, and the transplant coordinator in the operating room where the donor received care. Just prior to removal, each organ is flushed free of blood and then placed in a sterile container for transportation to the recipient’s transplant center. Organs must be transplanted quickly – hearts and lungs within four hours, livers within 12-18, and kidneys within 24-48 hours of removal from the donor.

The risks associated with receiving an organ transplant are outweighed by the benefits as individuals receiving transplants are those who would not be able to survive without them. Though all organ recipients must take anti-rejection drugs following transplant, reports indicate that 15 percent still suffer some rejection in the first year. In addition, though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that though the risk of disease transmission from donated organs is rather small, between 2007 and 2010 more than 200 cases of suspected transmission were investigated. To increase the safety of organ transplants, the CDC has drafted new guidelines for advanced organ testing which would screen for hepatitis B and C as well as HIV.

In 2010, 28,665 organ transplants were performed, but reports indicate that as many as 6,000 Americans die each year while waiting for a transplant. By encouraging individuals to consider registering as donors, it may be possible to save thousands of lives each year.



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On the Malaria Vaccine

A recent WHO report indicates that nearly a third of all countries affected by malaria are on course to eliminate the disease over the next 10 years. Though malaria can lead to complications or even death, it is a preventable and curable illness caused by a parasite that is passed from one human to another through the bite of infected Anopheles mosquitoes. Infected individuals frequently experience high fevers, flu-like symptoms, and anemia; and in 2008 malaria caused between 190 and 311 million clinical episodes and between 708,000 and 1,003,000 deaths. Anti-malarial medications, insecticidal nets, and other control and prevention measures have saved an estimated 1.1 million lives in Africa over the past 10 years, but the availability of an effective vaccine is vital to halt its spread.

In the 109 countries and territories where the risk of malaria transmission is the greatest, newly developed malaria vaccines could save lives. Reports indicate that there were 225 million cases of malaria and an estimated 781,000 deaths in 2009, but these figures have steadily declined in recent years. Though preventative measures have helped to reduce infection rates, experts note that the development and use of a malaria vaccine could reduce them further. During a major clinical trial, a recently produced experimental vaccine known as RTS,S halved the risk of children in Africa contracting malaria. Currently children under five years of age account for the majority of the 800,000 people who die each year as a result of malaria. According to the developers of the vaccine, the adverse effects observed during the vaccine trial are comparable to those seen in children receiving other vaccines.

The RTS,S vaccine triggers an immune response which targets the Plasmodium falciparum parasite that causes malaria. This immune response prevents the parasite from maturing and multiplying in the liver of the vaccinated individual. Unlike other previously developed malaria vaccines, this new vaccine has been created to target different forms of the disease and to trigger a range of antibody responses. Though researchers have been working for 40 years to develop an effective malaria vaccine, to date the outcomes have not been entirely successful. Additional research and testing of the RTS,S vaccine is needed, but according to Dr. Mary Hamel of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “these findings show we are on track in the development of a vaccine.”

With further testing and refinement, this vaccine has the potential to save millions of lives each year and eradicate a disease that affects 3.3 million people – half the world’s population. An effective malaria vaccine could reduce malaria-related deaths, 89 percent of which occur in Africa, and could improve the lives of individuals in regions impacted by the diseases.



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