Is there any pattern to infections that occur post kidney transplantation?
Yes. Karuthu et al. reviewed this recently, including the timing of infections post transplant. Infections occur in a generally predictable pattern after kidney transplantation.
- • First month post transplant:
- • Nosocomial and surgery-related infections are the predominant infections
- • Aspiration pneumonia
- • Catheter infections
- • Wound infections
- • Anastomotic leaks
- • Clostridium difficile colitis
- • Resistant organisms such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
- • Months post transplantation 1 through 6:
- • Activation of latent infections is most common
- • Pneumocystis jiroveci (previously Pneumocystis carinii ) pneumonia
- • Fungal infections
- • Herpes-related disease
- • BK virus
- • Clostridium difficile colitis
- • Hepatitis C virus
- • Adenovirus
- • Influenza
- • C ryptococcus
- • Mycobacterium tuberculosis .
- • Posttransplant month 6 and beyond:
- • Community-acquired infections are predominant (urinary tract infections [UTIs], pneumonia)
- • Fungal infections, including Nocardia, Aspergillus, and Mucor
- • Late viral infections (cytomegalovirus [CMV], hepatitis B and C, herpes simplex virus, John Cunningham (JC) virus)