Travel and transplantation: travel-related diseases in transplant recipients.

Abstract

PURPOSE OF REVIEW:

Travel-related diseases may be seen in transplant recipients after travel, after transplant tourism, and via transmission from blood and organ donors, augmented by recent increases in travel, migration, and globalization. Such infections include tuberculosis, Plasmodium (malaria), Babesia, Trypanosoma cruzi (Chagas disease), Strongyloides, Coccidioides, Histoplasma, Leishmania, Brucella, HTLV, dengue, among numerous others.

RECENT FINDINGS:

Review of cohorts of transplant recipients show that they tend to have minimal or suboptimal preparation prior to travel, with limited pretravel vaccination, medications, and education, which poses a greatly increased risk of travel-related infections and complications. The epidemiology of such travel-related infections in transplant recipients, along with methods for prevention, including vaccines, chemoprophylaxis, and education may help SOT recipients avoid travel-related infections, and are discussed in this review.

SUMMARY:

Optimizing the understanding of the risk of tropical, geographically restricted, and other unusual or unexpected, travel-related infections will enhance the safety of vulnerable transplant recipients from potentially life-threatening infections.

• Authors: Camille N Kotton
• Journal: Current opinion in organ transplantation (Curr Opin Organ Transplant) Vol. 17 Issue 6 Pg. 594-600 (Dec 2012) ISSN: 1531-7013 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 23147910 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)

Chemical References

• Anti-Infective Agents
• Bacterial Vaccines
• Protozoan Vaccines
• Vaccines
• Viral Vaccines

Topics

• Anti-Infective Agents (therapeutic use)
• Bacterial Infections (prevention & control, transmission)
• Bacterial Vaccines (administration & dosage)
• Humans
• Immunocompromised Host
• Medical Tourism
• Organ Transplantation
• Parasitic Diseases (prevention & control, transmission)
• Protozoan Vaccines (administration & dosage)
• Tissue Donors
• Transfusion Reaction
• Vaccines (administration & dosage)
• Viral Vaccines (administration & dosage)
• Virus Diseases (prevention & control, transmission)