Theme 2: How Are VIRUSES SPREAD IN THE BODY? HOW CAN WE IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF TRANSMISSION DURING TRANSPLANTATION?

• In this theme, we want to improve our understanding of viruses in the body and their dangers during transplantation. We want to identify a large range of viruses in donated blood and tissues. To do this, we will use a method known as, metagenomics. We will also develop analytical techniques that increase our chances of finding viruses that are surrounded by a large pool of human DNA.
• We want to understand the spread of viruses during transplantation. We will do this by focusing on a pathogen known as, Human Herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8). Transplant recipients sometimes become infected with HHV-8. So, we want to develop methods that will tell us whether they acquired their infection from the donor. We will also develop techniques to accurately measure the amount of HHV-8 in a patient’s blood.
• Interestingly, scientists have also discovered viruses in the body that do not make us ill. An example of this is anelloviruses. We will look at the types of anelloviruses that are found in a transplant recipient, and how their composition in the body changes over time.

Why Does it matter?

Pathogens are dangerous in organ transplant settings. It is still difficult to identify situations where a pathogen has spread from a donor to recipient. This is an issue with HHV-8 because HHV-8 infection has caused death in some transplant recipients.

An investigation between 2015 and 2019 identified seven HHV-8 transmission clusters involving 23 recipients and 11 new donor-derived infections. The transmission rate was 48% (11 out of 23) and fatality rate was 64% (7 out of 11).

How might this research lead to change?