COVID-19 surveillance in a bone marrow transplantation unit: experience from a Brazilian tertiary-care teaching hospital

• Published in: Supportive care in cancer Vol. 32; no. 4; p. 271
• Main Authors: Randi, Bruno A., Guimarães, Thaís, de S. Spadao, Fernanda, Higashino, Hermes R., dos S. Lazari, Carolina, Xavier, Erick M., Rocha, Vanderson, Costa, Silvia F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.04.2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Comment; COVID-19; Disease control; Health surveillance; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Nursing; Nursing Research; Oncology; Pain Medicine; Pandemics; Rehabilitation Medicine; Stem cell transplantation; Brazil; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation; Infection control
• ISSN: 0941-4355; 1433-7339
• DOI: 10.1007/s00520-024-08479-2

Purpose In this work, we aimed to describe the strategy of the weekly SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR surveillance program that was implemented in our bone marrow transplantation (BMT) unit. Methods Our unit performed SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR before admission and then weekly during hospitalization even if the patient was asymptomatic. From May 2021 to May 2022, we collected data from all patients that were admitted in the BMT unit to perform transplantation. The total of SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR performed and the positive rate were described. Results During the study period, 65 patients were admitted for HSCT. A total of 414 SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR were performed. Two cases were detected (positivity rate, 0.48%). After the positive test, both patients were isolated outside the BMT unit. Conclusion We postulate that diagnosing these patients and isolating them outside the transplantation unit may have prevented secondary symptomatic cases.