Antiviral Prophylaxis

Maertens, Johan A.; Ráčil, Zdeněk

Viral infections account for a great majority of acute infections in humans, resulting in significant morbidity and greatly contributing to permanent disability and mortality in many immunocompromised patients, including those receiving treatments for hematological disorders, such as patients diagnosed with acute and chronic leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma. However, within the hematology population, recipients of hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) appear to have the greatest risk. In this latter group, some viral infections are more phase-dependent, whereas other infections may be encountered in all transplant phases. For instance, infections with adenovirus and respiratory viruses are diagnosed in all phases after HCT, whereas manifestations of herpes simplex virus 1 and 2 are mostly seen during the pre-engraftment period, infections due to cytomegalovirus and human herpes virus-6 in the early post-engraftment phase, and infections by Epstein–Barr virus and varicella-zoster virus often after day 100 post-transplant.