Australia and New Zealand Transplant and Cellular Therapies (ANZTCT) position statement: COVID‐19 management in patients with haemopoietic stem cell transplant and chimeric antigen receptor T cell

Patients with post‐haemopoietic stem cell transplant or chimeric antigen receptor T ‐cell (CAR‐T) therapy face a significant risk of morbidity and mortality from coronavirus disease 2019 because of their immunosuppressed state. As case numbers in Australia and New Zealand continue to rise, guidance on management in this high‐risk population is needed. Whilst we have learned much from international colleagues who faced high infection rates early in the pandemic, guidance relevant to local health system structures, medication availability and emerging therapies is essential to equip physicians to manage our patients optimally.

[1]  P. Klenerman,et al.  Antibody escape of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 from vaccine and BA.1 serum , 2022, Cell.

[2]  V. Sintchenko,et al.  Resistance Mutations in SARS-CoV-2 Delta Variant after Sotrovimab Use , 2022, The New England journal of medicine.

[3]  Shinji Watanabe,et al.  Efficacy of Antibodies and Antiviral Drugs against Covid-19 Omicron Variant , 2022, The New England journal of medicine.

[4]  Anonymous Tixagevimab and Cilgavimab (Evusheld) for Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis of COVID-19. , 2022, JAMA.

[5]  M. B. Abid,et al.  SARS‐CoV‐2 vaccine response in CAR T‐cell therapy recipients: A systematic review and preliminary observations , 2021, Hematological oncology.

[6]  V. Naganathan,et al.  Care of older people and people requiring palliative care with COVID‐19: guidance from the Australian National COVID‐19 Clinical Evidence Taskforce , 2021, The Medical journal of Australia.

[7]  P. Pang,et al.  Early Treatment for Covid-19 with SARS-CoV-2 Neutralizing Antibody Sotrovimab. , 2021, The New England journal of medicine.

[8]  Kelly A. Fusco,et al.  Convalescent plasma for hospitalized patients with COVID-19: an open-label, randomized controlled trial , 2021, Nature Medicine.

[9]  Joshua A. Hill,et al.  Humoral Immunity After mRNA SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination in Allogeneic HCT Recipients-Room for Improvement and Much to Learn. , 2021, JAMA network open.

[10]  P. Shaw,et al.  Australia and New Zealand Transplant and Cellular Therapies COVID‐19 vaccination consensus position statement , 2021, Internal medicine journal.

[11]  C. Dienemann,et al.  Mechanism of molnupiravir-induced SARS-CoV-2 mutagenesis , 2021, Nature Structural & Molecular Biology.

[12]  M. Landray,et al.  Convalescent plasma in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial , 2021, medRxiv.

[13]  M. Perales,et al.  Clinical characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 in haematopoietic stem-cell transplantation recipients: an observational cohort study , 2021, The Lancet Haematology.

[14]  W. Wood,et al.  Outcomes of patients with hematologic malignancies and COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis of 3377 patients , 2020, Blood.

[15]  F. Penedo,et al.  Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19): telemedicine and remote care delivery in a time of medical crisis, implementation, and challenges , 2020, Translational behavioral medicine.

[16]  K. Griva,et al.  Understanding the Psychological Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Patients With Cancer, Their Caregivers, and Health Care Workers in Singapore , 2020, JCO global oncology.

[17]  N. E. Babady,et al.  Favorable outcomes of COVID-19 in recipients of hematopoietic cell transplantation. , 2020, The Journal of clinical investigation.

[18]  W. Wood,et al.  Real-World Issues and Potential Solutions in Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Perspectives from the Worldwide Network for Blood and Marrow Transplantation and Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research Health Services and International Studies Commi , 2020, Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation.

[19]  D. Raoult,et al.  Viral RNA load as determined by cell culture as a management tool for discharge of SARS-CoV-2 patients from infectious disease wards , 2020, European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases.

[20]  Guidance on ending the isolation period for people with COVID-19, third update , 2022 .