Guidance for Facing Dilemmas of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Clinicians in the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Iranian Consensus

摘要

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization since March 2020.1 The number of involved cases is increasing rapidly around the world, and its burden on the health care system is progressively growing. Most countries have restricted their gatherings, travels, and other aspects of life. These restrictions would undoubtedly impact transplant activities in many centers. Although all people are susceptible to this infection, hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) recipients are at increased risk and dissimilar to other respiratory viruses, little is known about the clinical significance of human coronavirus infection in this population. Therefore, in this paper, we have provided the adopted recommendations on managing HSCT recipients and donors in COVID-19 pandemic from experts in “Hematology, Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. These recommendations were based on the proposed international guidelines but were modified considering the limitations of health care resources in our country. The recommendations were presented to the health authorities of Iran and were approved by the Deputy Minister for therapeutic services at Ministry of Health of Iran and were suggested and signified to all transplant centers in the country as a practical guideline. It is imperative to note that data about this disease and its impact on our patients is evolving and so our strategy is to repeatedly update the guidance as soon as new information becomes accessible.