Virus fears haunt transplant patients in Spain despite vaccines

Wearing a face mask and social distancing was part of Magdalena Moskal’s life long before the coronavirus pandemic struck.

The 36-year-old from Madrid underwent a double lung transplant in 2008 to fight her cystic fibrosis, a genetic disease in which thick secretions build up in the lungs, making it difficult to breathe.

“Suddenly everyone was living my reality,” she said softly, reflecting on the rush to adopt anti-COVID precautions early last year.

Now, as the COVID vaccine rollout gains momentum, many people are returning to gyms, cinemas and sports venues after more than a year of on-off restrictions.

But for Moskal and thousands like her in Spain, the world leader in organ transplants, a worry-free return to normal life still seems a long way off.

The immune response of transplant patients is purposely suppressed by daily medications to prevent the body from attacking the new organ.

They also do not respond to vaccines the same way as others.

So, Moskal warned, organ donation recipients will only be able to relax when “100 percent of the population is vaccinated.”

“If I am here, it is because I have always taken care of myself. If I am not careful, it will end badly,” Moskal, trained in law and happy to work at home, told AFP.

“Not like the others”

Andrea Lopez Robles, 25, a student who also lives in the Spanish capital and received a life-saving liver transplant when she was just two, also believes she can’t turn down his guard.

“Until everyone is vaccinated, I don’t think I can say ‘goodbye’ to all the precautions,” she said in an interview with AFP.

She has not taken public transport since the start of the pandemic in Spain in March 2020 and avoids large gatherings as much as possible.

“I almost died. I can’t do anything stupid,” added Robles, a hand sanitizer strapped to his purse and only lowering his high-filtration FFP2. mask drink its fruit juice.

“I am aware that I have to take care of myself, that I am not like the others.”

Uncertainty, despite vaccination

For more than three decades, Spain has achieved more organ transplants than anywhere else in the world.

It has a very developed network, with a transplant coordinator present in each hospital.

Over 116,000 transplants have been performed since 1989, in what is a source of national pride.

There were 48.9 organ donors per million inhabitants in Spain in 2019, its highest number on record.

This compares to 29.4 million in France and 36.1 million in the United States, according to the National Transplantation Organization of the Spanish Ministry of Health.

however, organ transplant patients who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 cannot be certain of their immunity.

A study published in May by the Journal of the American Medical Association found that only 54% of 658 transplant patients who received two doses of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine produced COVID-19 antibodies.

Moskal was immune to COVID in May but is not sure if her body has produced the antibodies the vaccines are supposed to trigger.

“A significant percentage of transplant patients develop absolutely no antibodies or defensive cells after being vaccinated against the coronavirus,” said Estela Paz Artal, head of the immunology department at Hospital 12 de Octubre in Madrid.

But she said it was important for a transplant patient to get the vaccine because “as weak” as they are immune response that is, it is “better than no vaccination”.

The death rate from COVID-19 for transplant patients is 21%, compared to about 2.0% for the general population, according to the National Transplant Organization.

“Monastic life”

Most transplant patients are well aware of the risks.

Retired IT engineer Rafael Garcia, 45, said the hundred or so pills he has had to take daily since undergoing a double lung transplant five years ago reminds him that he needs to take care of him “every day, every hour”.

He said he led a “monastic life” with his wife, living as if he was not vaccinated, although he was.

He shops online and wears face masks outside even when no one is nearby.

As part of the Spanish COVID vaccination program, transplantation patients have been given priority and health authorities are considering giving them reminders.

“We will have to look for alternatives and increase the effectiveness of the vaccine for this group of patients,” said Beatriz Dominguez-Gil, head of the National Transplant Organization.

“For now, they must maintain self-protection measures. Like everyone else, but in their case even more,” she added.

© 2021 AFP