09 October, 2005 18:22 GMT
Two of the three organ recipients who became infected with West Nile disease developed encephalitis and slipped into comas in mid-September. They remain in that state, listed in critical condition.
Health officials say organs transplanted from a single New York donor infected three people with West Nile virus, leaving two recipients comatose for weeks. This was the second known case in the United States of the virus being transmitted by organ transplant, The New York Times said Friday.
Though they are screened for a variety of other infections, like HIV and hepatitis, organ donors are not routinely tested for West Nile.
Potentially Fatal
The donor was a Bronx man who was declared brain dead on Aug. 26, three days after suffering a serious head injury in what one doctor said was a bicycle accident. On Aug. 28, his liver, kidneys and one lung were transplanted into four patients -- three in Manhattan hospitals and one, a New Yorker, in Pittsburgh.
Three of the patients later tested positive for West Nile infection. Two developed encephalitis, a potentially fatal brain inflammation, slipped into comas in mid-September, and remain in that state, listed in critical condition.
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