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Viral Infections

Active surveillance for respiratory virus infections in adults who have undergone bone marrow and peripheral blood stem cell transplantation

Bone Marrow Transplantation volume 32, pages 1085–1088 (2003)Cite this article

Summary:

Community-acquired respiratory virus (RV) infections are an important cause of disease in immunocompromised adults with cancer. To investigate the viral etiology, incidence, clinical presentation, and outcome of RV infections in an outpatient cohort of adult bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cell transplant (SCT) recipients, we monitored 62 outpatient volunteers from January 1 to April 30, 2001. A nasopharyngeal aspirate was collected from subjects when they reported new respiratory symptoms and tested for RV (influenza A, influenza B, human parainfluenza 1–3, adenovirus, and respiratory syncytial virus) by culture and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay. Of 62 subjects enrolled, 27% had received allogeneic SCT and 45% were within 1 year of their transplant. In all, 35 participants (56%) reported 37 episodes of respiratory symptoms. Of the 37 specimens tested, five (14%) were positive for RV by culture and 20 (54%) were positive by RT-PCR. Only six patients with RV infections developed lower respiratory tract illnesses; these patients had received either autologous or allogeneic transplants and developed illnesses between 41 and 2666 days post transplant. Although RV infections were common in SCT outpatients during the RV season, most participants had upper respiratory tract infections, which resolved without the need for hospitalization.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the people with SCT who participated in this study and their healthcare providers at the Greenebaum Cancer Center. We also acknowledge Barbara Anderson for her excellent technical assistance in performing the RT-PCR. This work was supported by NIAID, NIH Contract # N01-AI-85342; Dr Roghmann was supported by a VA Career Development Award during the time this work was performed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Healthcare Outcomes Research, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Epidemiology Section, Medical Care Clinical Center, VA Maryland Health Care System, Baltimore, MD, USA

    M Roghmann

  2. Center for Vaccine Development and Division of Geographic Medicine, Department of Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    K Ball & R Edelman

  3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA

    D Erdman & L J Anderson

  4. Department of Pediatrics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    J Lovchik

Authors
  1. M Roghmann
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  2. K Ball
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  3. D Erdman
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  4. J Lovchik
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  5. L J Anderson
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  6. R Edelman
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Correspondence to M Roghmann.

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Roghmann, M., Ball, K., Erdman, D. et al. Active surveillance for respiratory virus infections in adults who have undergone bone marrow and peripheral blood stem cell transplantation. Bone Marrow Transplant 32, 1085–1088 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bmt.1704257

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