Primary cytomegalovirus and opportunistic infections. Incidence in renal transplant recipients
S. N. Chatterjee, M. Fiala, J. Weiner, J. A. Stewart, B. Stacey and N. Warmer
Thirty-five renal allograft recipients were studied concerning the
relationship between cytomegalovirus (CMV), herpes simplex virus (HSV), and
opportunistic bacterial and fungal infections. The incidence of
opportunistic infections was determined for patients whose tests prior to
transplantation were seronegative in complement fixation and indirect
hemagglutination assays of CMV antibody and for those patients whose tests
were seropositive. Among the six seronegative patients with seronegative
tests, four (66%) experienced active CMV infection within two months, and
four died of Candida or Aspergillus infection within six months after
transplantation. Among the 22 patients with seropositive tests, only one
(4%) had a fungal infection and it was nonfatal (P less than .05). The
increased morbidity and mortality due to fungal and bacterial infections in
transplant recipients with seronegative CMV tests appears, therefore, to be
related to primary CMV infection rather than to generalized
immunodeficiency.
