The American Society of Transplantation Online Transplant Infectious Diseases Library

Background: The field of new biological agents is increasing exponentially over the past years, thus making prevention and management of associated infectious complications a challenge for nonspecialized clinicians.

Background Heart transplantation has been shown to be a safe and effective intervention for progressive cardiomyopathy from chronic Chagas disease. However, in the presence of the immunosuppression required for heart transplantation, the likelihood of Chagas disease reactivation is significant. Reactivation may cause myocarditis resulting in allograft dysfunction and the rapid onset of congestive heart failure. Reactivation rates have been well documented in Latin America; however, there is...

Outbreaks associated with exposure to treated recreational water can be caused by pathogens or chemicals in venues such as pools, hot tubs/spas, and interactive water play venues (i.e., water ...

Background: The present review is part of the ESCMID Study Group for Infections in Compromised Hosts (ESGICH) Consensus Document on the safety of targeted and biological therapies. Aims: To review, from an Infectious Diseases perspective, the safety profile of agents targeting CD19, CD20 and CD52 and to suggest preventive recommendations. Sources: Computer-based MEDLINE searches with MeSH terms pertaining to each agent or therapeutic family. Content: Although CD19-targeted agents...

Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) have become a standard treatment modality for the management of end-stage heart failure, either as a bridge to cardiac transplantation or as destination therapy. Infection is a frequent complication in up to one-third of LVAD recipients. Although the epidemiology of LVAD infections has been well-described, strategies for prevention, diagnosis, and management of these infectious complications remain controversial and vary among institutions. The...

Background Descriptive data on Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) in solid organ transplant recipients (SOTr) in the era of routine Pneumocystis-prophylaxis are lacking. Methods All adult SOTr between 2008 and 2016 were included. PJP was diagnosed based on consensus guidelines. Early-onset PJP was defined as PJP within the first-year-post-transplant. Results 41/2842 SOTr (1.4%) developed PJP (incidence rate: 0.01/1000 person-days) at a mean of 493-days post-transplant: 21 (51.2%) early...

Background Kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) are at risk for reactivation and complicated infection due to Coccidioides. Pre-transplant serological screening should provide benefit for patients from endemic areas. We evaluated Coccidioides seroprevalence by area of residence in KTRs at a major transplant program in Los Angeles. Methods We performed cross-sectional analyses of adult KTRs who underwent transplantation at UCLA between 2007-2016. Patients with Coccidioides serology by enzyme...

Background: The present review is part of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) Study Group for Infections in Compromised Hosts (ESGICH) consensus document on the safety of targeted and biological therapies.

Background: The present review is part of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) Study Group for Infections in Compromised Hosts (ESGICH) Consensus Document on the safety of targeted and biologic therapies.

Chikungunya virus is a recent emerging arbovirus in Latin America, and the clinical manifestations can vary from fever and rash to severe chronic inflammatory arthritis. Few reports have been published regarding this infection in immunocompromised patients, including solid organ transplant recipients. We report a case series of solid organ transplant recipients with confirmed Chikungunya infection by positive reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), identified between...

Background Protease inhibitors (PI) pose a challenge post-transplant due to significant drug interactions with calcineurin inhibitors, prompting many clinicians to convert patients to non-interacting regimens prior to transplant. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of PI-based regimens on graft outcomes in HIV-infected renal transplant recipients. Methods In this retrospective cohort study, 50 HIV-infected renal allograft recipients (27 receiving a PI regimen, 23 receiving a...

Background Infectious diseases (ID) specialists with experience in managing infections in transplant recipients and other immunocompromised hosts are increasingly needed as these fields expand. Methods To evaluate experiences and identify trainee-described needs in transplant infectious diseases (TID) training, the American Society of Transplantation, Infectious Diseases Community of Practice (AST IDCOP) surveyed ID fellows across the United States and TID fellows in the United States and...

The European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, the European Confederation of Medical Mycology and the European Respiratory Society Joint Clinical Guidelines focus on diagnosis and management of aspergillosis. Of the numerous recommendations, a few are summarized here. Chest computed tomography as well as bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) in patients with suspicion of pulmonary invasive aspergillosis (IA) are strongly recommended. For diagnosis, direct...

Dapsone may be used for Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) prophylaxis in hematology patients receiving immunosuppressive therapy or after hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) in the setting of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) adverse drug reaction (ADR) history. Dapsone-induced hematological toxicities such as oxidative hemolysis may limit use in these patients and modern assessments of dapsone allergy cross-reactivity in non-HIV patients with a sulfonamide allergy are...

Background: The present review is part of the ESCMID Study Group for Infections in Compromised Hosts (ESGICH) Consensus Document on the safety of targeted and biological therapies. Aims: To review, from an Infectious Diseases perspective, the safety profile of agents targeting interleukins, immunoglobulins and complement factors and to suggest preventive recommendations. Sources: Computer-based MEDLINE searches with MeSH terms pertaining to each agent or therapeutic family. Content: Patients...

The in vitro susceptibilities of 24 molecularly identified dimorphic fungi belonging to the genera Adiaspiromyces, Blastomyces, and Emergomyces within the family Ajellomycetaceae were tested against 8 standard antifungal agents using CLSI document M38-A2. Amphotericin B and posaconazole had the lowest geometric mean MICs (<0.05 μg/ml) followed by itraconazole (<0.07 μg/ml), voriconazole (<0.15 μg/ml), and isavuconazole (<0.42 μg/ml) while fluconazole was not active. Micafungin demonstrated...

CMV infection is a common complication in patients undergoing hematopoietic-cell transplantation. The incidence of CMV infection was 23 percentage points lower with prophylactic letermovir, a CMV–terminase complex inhibitor, than with placebo, with only low-level toxic effects.

<h2>Summary</h2><h3>Background</h3><p>Continuation of empirical antimicrobial therapy (EAT) for febrile neutropenia in patients with haematological malignancies until neutrophil recovery could prolong the therapy unnecessarily. We aimed to establish whether EAT discontinuation driven by a clinical approach regardless of neutrophil recovery would optimise the duration of therapy.</p><h3>Methods</h3><p>We did an investigator-driven, superiority, open-label, randomised, controlled phase 4...

Document Reviewers: Adrian M. Baranchuk, MD, FACC, FRCPC, FCCS; Carina Blomström-Lundqvist, MD, PhD; Frank A. Fish, MD; James M. Horton, MD; Roberto Keegan, MD; Miguel A. Leal, MD, FACC, FHRS; Nigel Lever, MBChB, FRACP; Aman Mahajan, MD, PhD, MBA; Marc R. Moon, MD; Siva K. Mulpuru, BS, MB, MBBS, MD, FHRS, CCDS