1096. Riding the Waves: Infection by SARS-CoV-2 Variants in Solid Organ Transplant Recipients at Texas Children’s Hospital

Abstract

Abstract Background Texas Children’s Hospital is the largest pediatric solid organ transplant (SOT) program in the US, performing heart, kidney, liver, and lung transplants. Limited data exist about SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19) in the pediatric SOT population. We evaluated the impact of different SARS-CoV-2 variants in a cohort of PCR positive SOT recipients. Methods SOT recipients with a positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR test from 3/1/2020 to 2/28/2022 were included in the cohort. The study period was divided into 3 eras based on the predominant circulating variant of SARS-CoV-2: 3/20-6/21 original strain/Alpha, 7/21-11/21 Delta, and 12/21-2/22 Omicron variants. Retrospective medical record review was performed; Chi-squared and Fischer exact test were used to compare groups. Results A total of 269 of 1031 (26%) SOT recipients tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 during the study period. By organ, 87/335 (26%) heart, 57/224 (25%) kidney, 92/405 (23%) liver, and 25/67 (37%) lung recipients had COVID-19 infection. By era, there were 99 (37%) original strain/ Alpha, 65 (24%) Delta, and 105 (39%) Omicron. The patients’ median age was 12.72 years (IQR 6.6, 15.1) with a minority of recipients being female (42%). Common comorbidities included hypertension (50%), obesity (13%), diabetes (10%), and chronic kidney disease (10%); 34% had no comorbidities aside from chronic immunosuppression post-transplant. Overall, 80% of recipients were symptomatic (Figure 1), and 50 (19%) required hospitalization. Hospitalization rates were highest (29%) during Delta, compared with 18% for original/Alpha and 13% for Omicron (p=0.02) eras. Need for respiratory support, ICU admission, and all-cause mortality did not vary by era (Table 1). Three SOT recipients (2 original/Alpha and 1 Delta) were diagnosed with multi-inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). Conclusion Our study suggests that pediatric SOT recipients have a high risk for hospitalization and short-term complications with COVID-19; Omicron appears to cause less severe disease, including MIS-C. Additional studies are needed to understand long-term complications of COVID-19 in SOT recipients. Disclosures Elizabeth A. Moulton, MD, PhD, Pfizer: Grant/Research Support Flor M. Munoz, MD, MSc, Gilead: Grant/Research Support|Moderna: DSMB|Pfizer: DSMB.