Respiratory viral infections prior to and after allogeneic haematopoietic cell transplantation.

Infections contribute greatly to the morbidity and mortality of allogeneic haematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT), an important part of this is due to viral infections, some of which are respiratory viruses (Dignan I et al. i , [2]; Hill I et al i , [4]). A common clinical problem is, for example, the patient with chronic GvHD acquiring a respiratory viral infection, this triggering GvHD of the lung, e.g. obstructive bronchiolitis syndrome, which may ultimately lead to death of the patient. We do not know however, how patients were selected for immediate HCT as compared to deferred HCT, hence, other decision-guiding patient-related characteristics might have significantly contributed to the difference observed. [Extracted from the article]