A TRANSPLANTED KIDNEY GAVE ITS RECIPIENT A DEADLY CASE OF RABIES IN MICHIGAN
Of all the things people tend to be afraid of when it comes to organ transplants is having the new organ you need to stay alive instead infecting you with something that kills you. I had a family member, bless their soul, who lived over 3 decades after receiving a kidney. Before that, she had to routinely visit a clinic or hospital for dialysis just to stay alive. But many people aren’t so lucky, and deal with infections, organ rejection and a host of other things. So I’m very sympathetic to the poor person in Michigan who received a transplanted kidney, only to then get a deadly case of rabies from it.
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THIS FATAL KIDNEY DELIVERED RABIES IS MICHIGAN’S FIRST RABIES CASE SINCE 2009
Even stranger, the person who died from rabies from a transplanted organ was the first human case of rabies in Michigan since the year 2009. At first, everyone was puzzled when they came down with rabies, and then dedicated to solving the mystery after they passed away from the infection. There was a suspicion that maybe, possibly, the kidney was the source. But that suspicion was confirmed after tissue samples sent to the Centers for Disease Control made it clear: the kidney had rabies. To say this is unusual is a bit of an understatement.
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HOW DID THIS ORGAN HAVE RABIES, AND HOW DID NO ONE CATCH IT BEFORE SURGERY?
The kidney came from a donor in Ohio, which hasn’t had a case of a human with rabies since 1970. But now there are some hard questions that need answers. For starters, how did it end up with rabies in the first place? And more importantly, how is it that the rabies wasn’t detected as part of the organ screening process? So far, officials in various agencies aren’t saying much about what those answers may be. But those answers have to come, as organ donations are priceless gifts for those who need to receive them to stay alive.
They’re not supposed to give you a deadly case of rabies.
