When Kovid -19 first caught the world in early 2020, it brought a wave of uncertainty not only about treatment and prevention, but also about other important areas of healthcare, including organ donations.

Can a person who can overcome Kovid can safely donate kidney or liver? Do virus marks still move around their body and damage a transplant recipient?

Five years later, medical experts say that the answer is clear.

Dr. of Critical Care Medicine at Akash Healthcare, Dr. Ajit Singh says, “Yes, people who have recovered from Kovid -19 can safely donate to organs.” “We have traveled a long way to understand this virus and its effects. A donor who fixes negative and conducts negative tests, the recipient has no risk.”

A historic study from Washington University School of Medicine at St. Louis, US, returned to it. It was found that the kidneys of the donors who used to conduct positive tests for the first covid were safe for transplantation, with no marks of viruses, which were not passed from donor to recipient.

“As a physician, during the early part of the Covid-19 epidemic, concerns excluded the fear of viral transmission to the recipients through the organs, which due to swelling or damage also led to frequent infection in the recovery and obstructions in orgen’s viability. There were other causes of blanket restrictions,” Dr. Vikas Aggarwal, Director and HOD, Robotic Urology, Akash Healthcare, Indiatoday.in explains.

But this perception changed. An analysis by the United Network for Organ sharing (UNOS) found that there was a rate of survival for those from donors without infection in organ transplants from donors who conduct positive testing for Covid-19.

In India, a multi -layered study on 31 kidney transplants from living donors recovering from Kovid -19 did not report any virus transmission or unusual complications among recipients.

Systematic reviews have confirmed the safety of using covid-resavred donors, provided that they conduct negative tests before transplantation. In the case of heart and lung transplantation, short -term security data is reassuring, and long -term results are already being tracked.

How the epidemic changed the organ donation rules

During the peak of the epidemic, there was a harsh change in organ donation practices. Many hospitals suspended donations from Cov-positive patients, and even those who were able to recover from the fear of possible transmission.

“Initially, we were very cautious. Any donor was rejected automatically with Kovid history,” Dr. Rajiv Kumar Sethia, Director of Urology and head, head of kidney transplant and robotic surgery, Dr. Rajiv Kumar says Sethia.

However, he said that because research and “with all the safety checks we have today, organ donations from patients recovering from Kovid -19 are completely safe.”

Hospitals now follow strict screening protocols to ensure that the donors have been fully fixed and negatively tested before proceeding with a transplant.

The current protocol has to undergo Sars-Cov-2 PCR test using a Nasopharyzal Swab, with the negative results obtained within three days from the limb recovery. Symptoms of donors, exposure history and recovery from Covid-19 should also be carefully reviewed and documented.

For immunospressed recipients, additional precautions are taken through universal microbiological screening, including organ-specific trials such as broncholevolor lavage (BAL), for lung transplantation.

Doctors also examine the donor’s medical history, symptoms and exposure to the covid, and make sure their recovery is well documented.

“In high-risk cases, for people with weaker immune systems, additional tests are performed-including organ-specific checks such as lung fluid testing for lung transplantation. In many cases, there is also a waiting period of 21 to 90 days after the donor recovery before going ahead of the transplant,” Dr.

The lungs and intestines, however, are bound to be more restrictive, as the risk of viral persistence is high. Dr. Says Aggarwal, “For lung transplants, in addition to regular swab tests, broncholevolar lavage (BAL) is required, and a delay of six to seven weeks is recommended after recovery.”

For kidney, liver and heart transplant, standard negative PCR test is generally sufficient, with low additional requirements.

Corneal transplant has minimal restrictions unless there is systemic infection. These guidelines are updated as new evidence emerges.

India’s ongoing transplant gap

While this scientific clarity is good news, India faces a deep mismatch between the number of essential organs and available people.

The country after the US and China, performs the third largest number of transplants in the world, but the per capita rate is low.

According to Lancet Regional Health-South East Asia, more than 2 lakh people in India develop end-stage kidney failure every year. Nevertheless, only 11,000 kidney implants are done annually, making thousands of people dependent on dialysis or without any treatment.

Dr. Ajit points to two major challenges: lack of organ donors and the difficulty of transporting organs in rural and small cities in time.

“Most transplants in India still occur in private hospitals. We need strong public systems where more people can use the transplant without worrying about the cost,” they say.

Cultural and awareness obstruction

Even when organ donation is medically possible, many families hesitate to donate the organs of a loved one after death. In this, usually religious beliefs, lack of awareness, and fear of process are one of the greatest obstacles.

Director of City X-ray Scan and Clinic and Laboratory Head Dr. Says Sunita Kapoor, “People in small towns face a lot of hesitation while talking about organ donation. We need better awareness and simple legal procedures so that more people can come forward to donate.”

How to reduce differences

To bridge the gap between demand and availability, Dr. Sunita says that apart from extensive awareness about the importance of dead organ donation, we also need to simplify the legal process for agreed to organ donation.

“Public implants investing in infrastructure so that life -saving surgery is not limited to those who can afford personal care,” she says.

Although Covid-19 is no longer standing in the way of safe organ donation, India faces deep systemic, cultural and logical challenges in ensuring that life-saving organs reach patients who need them the most.