Pediatric Infectious Diseases Related to Transplantation: Insights From Japan

Infectious diseases after transplantation account for significant morbidity and mortality in children undergoing transplantation; the importance of pediatric transplant infectious disease (TID) specialists has therefore been recognized. Although tremendous advancement continues in transplantation medicine, pediatric-specific data and evidence are limited. In Japan, the majority of TIDs had not been managed by infectious disease specialists because pediatric infectious diseases have not been recognized as a solo subspecialty until recently in Japan. However, in the last decade, there was a new movement for pediatric TID in Japan; some pediatric infectious disease specialists trained outside Japan have been playing an important role in managing pediatric TID in a few academic and pediatric institutions. In this review article, we introduce the current status of infectious complications related to pediatric hematopoietic cell and solid organ transplantation, highlighting currently available local evidence, common practice and issues in the field of pediatric TID in Japan.