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Pediatric solid organ transplantation (SOT) is a preferred treatment for medically suitable children with end‐stage organ failure. Still, many of them have no access to transplantation owing to socioeconomic constraints or lack of transplant facilities in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMIC). Establishing pediatric SOT programs in LMIC offers children the opportunities to receive transplant care in more familiar home environments as well as help curtail transplant tourism and improve transplant outcomes as pediatric transplantation would be performed ethically and legally. The International Pediatric Transplant Association (IPTA) is a professional organization aiming to promote safe, ethical, and high‐quality pediatric transplantation worldwide. This society paper describes major obstacles to pediatric SOT in LMIC and provides guidance on developing and/or expanding pediatric SOT programs in such countries. We also summarize available resources from the IPTA Outreach Program to help establish and support pediatric SOT programs in LMIC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A position statement of the International Pediatric Transplant Association endorsing prioritizing pediatric recipients for deceased donor organ allocation, examining the key ethical arguments that serve as the foundation for that position, and making specific policy recommendations to support prioritizing pediatric recipients for deceased donor organ allocation globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There has not been a comprehensive global survey of pediatric‐deceased donor allocation practices across all organs since the advent of deceased donor transplantation at the end of the 20th century. As an international community that is responsible for transplanting children, we set out to survey the existing landscape of allocation. We aimed to summarize current practices and provide a snapshot overview of deceased donor allocation practices to children across the world. Methods: The International Registry in Organ Donation and Transplantation (IRODAT, www.irodat.org) was utilized to generate a list of all countries in the world, divided by continent, that performed transplantation. We reviewed the published literature, published allocation policy, individual website references and associated links to publicly available listed allocation policies. Following this, we utilized tools of communication, relationships, and international fellowship to confirm deceased donation pediatric centers and survey pediatric allocation practices for liver, kidney, heart, and lung across the world. We summarize pediatric allocation practices by organ when available using source documents, and personal communication when no source documents were available. Results: The majority of countries had either formal or informal policies directed toward minimizing organ distribution disparity among pediatric patients. Conclusion: Children have long‐term life to gain from organ donation yet continue to die while awaiting transplantation. We summarize global strategies that have been employed to provide meaningful and sustained benefit to children on the waitlist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: COVID‐19 vaccination has been successful in decreasing rates of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection in areas with high vaccine uptake. Cases of breakthrough SARS‐CoV‐2 infection remain infrequent among immunocompetent vaccine recipients who are protected from severe COVID‐19. Robust data demonstrate the safety, immunogenicity, and effectiveness of several COVID‐19 vaccine formulations. Importantly, Pfizer‐BioNTech BNT162b2 mRNA COVID‐19 vaccine studies have now included children as young as 5 years of age with safety, immunogenicity, and effectiveness data publicly available. In the United States, emergency use authorization by the Federal Drug Administration and approval from the Centers for Disease Control/Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices have been provided for the 5‐ to 11‐year‐old age group. Methods: Members of the International Pediatric Transplant Association (IPTA) provide an updated review of current COVID‐19 vaccine data with focus on pediatric solid organ transplant (SOT)‐specific issues. Results: This review provides an overview of current COVID‐19 immunogenicity, safety, and efficacy data from key studies, with focus on data of importance to pediatric SOT recipients. Continued paucity of data in the setting of pediatric transplantation remains a challenge. Conclusions: Further studies of COVID‐19 vaccination in pediatric SOT recipients are needed to better understand post‐vaccine COVID‐19 T‐cell and antibody kinetics and determine the optimal vaccine schedule. Increased COVID‐19 vaccine acceptability, uptake, and worldwide availability are needed to limit the risk that COVID‐19 poses to pediatric solid organ transplant recipients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: TB remains a major challenge in transplantation, particularly in endemic countries. This study aimed to describe the incidence, clinical presentation and outcomes of TB in paediatric kidney transplant recipients and to assess the impact of INH prophylaxis. Methods: Single‐centre retrospective descriptive analysis of children who received kidney transplants from 1995 to 2019 was carried out. The cohort was stratified according to receipt of INH prophylaxis which began in 2005. Results: A total of 212 children received a kidney transplant during the study period. Median age at transplantation was 11.2 years (IQR: 2.2–17.9), and 56% were males. TB was diagnosed in 20 (9%) children, with almost two‐thirds (n = 12) occurring within the first year. Most infections were pulmonary. The main presenting symptoms included fever (n = 13/20), weight loss (n = 12/20) and cough (n = 10/20). TST was positive in four of 20 children. Coinfection with EBV, CMV or Staph was found in five children. Due to drug interactions, an up to threefold increase in calcineurin inhibitor dose was required to maintain therapeutic blood levels. INH prophylaxis was protective against development of TB (p =.04). Gender, age and type of allograft were not significant risk factors. Graft and patient survival was 100% upon completion of TB treatment. Conclusion: Kidney transplant recipients in endemic countries have a high risk of developing TB. Diagnosis remains a challenge. Frequent and meticulous monitoring of immunosuppression drug levels during treatment of TB is required to avoid loss of patient or graft. INH prophylaxis protects against development of TB in this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID‐19 pandemic has proven to be a challenge in regard to the clinical presentation, prevention, diagnosis, and management of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection among children who are candidates for and recipients of SOT. By providing scenarios and frequently asked questions encountered in routine clinical practice, this document provides expert opinion and summarizes the available data regarding the prevention, diagnosis, and management of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection among pediatric SOT candidates and recipients and highlights ongoing knowledge gaps requiring further study. Currently available data are still lacking in the pediatric SOT population, but data have emerged in both the adult SOT and general pediatric population regarding the approach to COVID‐19. The document provides expert opinion regarding prevention, diagnosis, and management of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection among pediatric SOT candidates and recipients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) prophylaxis after pediatric solid organ transplant (SOT) is routinely recommended, but practice varies. Online survey was sent in 2018 to 707 members of the International Pediatric Transplant Association. A total of 105 responded, representing 47 institutions in 18 countries consisting of transplant physicians (66%), transplant surgeons (19%), nurse practitioners (6%), infectious disease physicians (5%), or pharmacists (4%). PJP prophylaxis was reported by 88%, while 12% did not routinely give prophylaxis. The majority not using PJP prophylaxis performed renal transplants (67%) citing low incidence of PJP (62%). Trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole was first‐line agent (95%). PJP prophylaxis for 4‐6 months was the most frequent duration following kidney (48%, 27/56), liver (42%, 13/31), and heart (40%, 10/25) transplant. Abdominal multivisceral providers equally gave 10‐12 months (47%) or lifelong (47%); most lung transplant providers gave lifelong prophylaxis (85%). Across all organs, 21% provided lifetime prophylaxis. After completion of prophylaxis, 32% do not restart for any reason; majority of the rest would restart for treatment of acute graft rejection. 83% reported no PJP cases in the prior 12 months; 14% reporting 1‐5 infections. Only 3% reported a case of PJP infection on prophylaxis; none in SOT. PJP prophylaxis is routinely provided to pediatric SOT patients though practice and duration vary by center and organ type. Durations of 4‐6 months were most common for renal, liver, and heart transplant recipients, while 10‐12 months or lifelong prophylaxis were commonly reported for abdominal multivisceral recipients and most lung transplant recipients are given lifelong prophylaxis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The presence of infections in the immediate pretransplant period poses challenges in decision‐making. Delaying transplantation because of these infections may be required, but is associated with a risk to the potential recipient. The aim of this project was to develop a structured framework based on expert opinion to guide decision‐making regarding the safety of transplantation for candidates with infection immediately before transplant, and to show how this framework can be applied to clinical scenarios. Methods: Categories were created as follows: Category A: no delay; Category B: brief delay (≤1 week); Category C: intermediate delay (>1 week); and Category D: more prolonged or indefinite delay. A survey containing 59 clinical scenarios was sent to members of the IPTA ID CARE committee. Answers were reviewed, and the level of agreement was characterized as follows: Level 1: ≥75% agreement; Level 2:51%‐74% agreement; and Level 3: ≤50% agreement. 95% CIs were calculated for the mean overall agreement across 59 scenarios. Results: Among the panel, the agreement level ranged from 33% to 92% with the mean overall agreement across the 59 scenarios being 61%. For 7/59 scenarios, the lower bound of 95% CI was greater than 50%, indicating a difference at the 5% level of significance between the observed proportion and the chance level of 0.5. Summary: The document provides expert opinion regarding the need to delay transplantation in the setting of different infections. The most important points in the decision to proceed to SOT included the urgency of transplantation and the severity of infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]