Respiratory virus infections in stem cell transplant patients: the European experience

The frequency of and survival from community-acquired respiratory virus (CRV) infections among patients undergoing allogeneic or autologous stem cell transplantation (SCT) were evaluated in a prospective study conducted at 37 medical centers affiliated with the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation. Of the 40 CRV infections diagnosed in 1863 patients (739, allogeneic SCT; 1124, autologous SCT), 20 were attributed to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), 4 to parainfluenza viruses, and 16 to influenza virus A. The overall survival rate among SCT recipients with CRV infections was 76%; 8 patients, all recipients of allogeneic transplants, died after diagnosis of CRV infection, but only 5 of these deaths (3, RSV; 2, influenza A virus) were attributable to the infection. The overall rate of death directly attributable to RSV and influenza A virus infections in allogeneic SCT recipients was 1.1%. In an 18-month extension, an additional 53 patients with CRV were identified. Results for the combined data were similar to those from the first phase of the study.