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Toxoplasmosis after hematopoietic stem transplantation. Report of a 5-year survey from the Infectious Diseases Working Party of the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation

Bone Marrow Transplantation volume 25, pages 1111–1114 (2000)Cite this article

Toxoplasmosis appears to be a rare opportunistic protozoal infection following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). The disease occurs almost exclusively from reactivation of latent microorganisms in seropositive recipients. In a recent review, only 55 cases had been reported after HSCT,1 which contrasts with the high frequency of this complication in other patient populations with severe cellular immunodeficiencies, mainly advanced acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).2 Most cases have been reported in allogeneic HSCT recipients, with only anecdotal reports after autologous transplantation.1

The seroprevalence for Toxoplasma gondii varies greatly between countries, ranging from less than 15% in some North American studies3 and in pediatric wards, to 50–80% of adult HSCT recipients in countries with high endemicity such as France.4 Probably one of the main reasons for the great variability in the frequency of diagnosed cases of toxoplasmosis after HSCT is this varying seroprevalence; the frequency has been estimated to average 0.8%,5 with <0.4% in areas of low endemicity to 2–3% in those with high antibody prevalence. These differences may contribute to a wide range of policies regarding pretransplantation serology in donors and recipients, availability of diagnostic tests for toxoplasmosis and use of specific prophylaxis against this infection among different institutions in Europe. In early 1999 the EBMT-IDWP distributed among its members a survey in order to better clarify current frequencies and policies regarding toxoplasmosis after HSCT. Since our main interest was to study the most recently available data on this matter, the study was restricted to the time period from 1994 to 1998.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the following physicians for carefully completing the questionnaire: Spain: Dr R Martino, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona; Dr M Rovira, Hospital Clínic i Provincial, Barcelona; Dr GF Sanz, Hospital la Fe, Valencia; Dr R De la Cámara, Hospital de la Princesa, Madrid; Dr JJ Ortega, Hospital Materno-Infantil de la Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona; Dr C Solano, Hospital Clínico Universitario, Valencia; Dr R Varela, Hospital Juan Canalejo, La Coruña; Dr M Constenla, Hospital Montecelo, Pontevedra; Dr MN Fernández, Clínica Puerta de Hierro, Madrid; Dr AM Martínez-Rubio, Hospital Infantil La Paz, Madrid; Dr F Hernández-Navarro, Hospital La Paz, Madrid; Dr JJ Díez-Martín, Hospital Gregorio Marañón, Madrid; Dr R Parody, Hospital Virgen del Rocío, Sevilla. Germany: Dr T Held, Charité-Virchow Klinikum, Berlin; Dr D Bunjes, University of Ulm; Dr RG Köchling, Klinikum Offenburg, Offenburg; Dr K Schäfer-Eckart, Klinikum Nürnberg, Nürnberg; Dr J Casper, University of Rostock, Rostock; Dr U Gross-Wieltsch, Olga Hospital, Stuttgart; Dr AJ Ullmann, Johannes Gutenberg University Hospital, Mainz; Dr M Bornhauser, Universitatsklinikum Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden; Dr D Fuchs, University of Jena, Jena. Belgium: Dr J Maertens, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Leuven; Dr A Ferrant, Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels; Dr R Schots, Academic Hospital, Free University Brussels; Dr B De Prijck, CHR La Citadelle, Liège; Dr D Selleslag, AZ St Jan, Brugge; Dr C Devalck, Children's University Hospital, Brussels. France: Dr C Cordonnier, Hôpital Henri Mondor, Créteil; Dr L Fouillard, Hôpital Saint-Antoine, Paris; Dr E Deconinck, Hôpital Jean Minjoz, Besancon. Italy: Dr M Picardi, Universitá delli Studi di Napoli, Federico II, Napoli; Dr S Sica, Instituto di Semeiotica Medica, Rome; Dr R Cairoli, Ospedale di Niguarda, Milan; Dr G Lambertenghi Deliliers, Ospedale Maggiore, Milan; Dr S Cesare, Clinica Onco-Ematologia Pediatrica, Padova. The Netherlands: Dr AW Dekker, University Hospital Utrecht, Utrecht. UK: Dr PC Lorigan, Weston Park Hospital, Sheffield; Dr AM Will, Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, Manchester. Czech Republic: Dr E Faber, Olomouc University Hospital, Olomouc; Dr A Vitek, Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, Prague. Greece: Dr D Petropoulos, Santa Sophia Children's Hospital, Athens. Hungary: Dr K Fabian, Borsod County Hospital, Miskolc. Portugal: Dr P Pimentel, Instituto Portugués de Oncologia, Porto. Austria: Dr H Greinix, University of Vienna, Vienna; Dr H Ludwig, Wilhelminenspital, Vienna. Slovenia: Dr J Pretnar, University Medical Centre, Ljubljana. Australia: Dr R Herrmann R, Royal Perth Hospital, Perth. South Africa: Prof P Jacobs, Constantinberg Medi-Cinic, Capetown. Slovakia: Dr H Mociková, Roosevelt Hospital, Banská Bystrica. Finland: Dr M Sinisalo, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere. Sweden: Dr P Ljungman, Huddinge University Hospital, Huddinge.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Clinical Hematology, Hospital de la Sant Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona, Spain

    R Martino

  2. Departments of Hematology and Laboratory of Mycology, Hôpital Henri Mondor, Créteil, France

    S Bretagne & C Cordonnier

  3. Department of Hematology, Hospital Clinic i Provincial, Barcelona, Spain

    M Rovira

  4. Division of Internal Medicine, Johannes Gutenberg University Hospital, Mainz, Germany

    AJ Ullmann

  5. Department of Hematology, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Leuven, Belgium

    J Maertens

  6. Charité-Virchow Klinikum, Berlin, Germany

    T Held

  7. Department of Hematology, Hôspital Jean Minjoz, Besancon, France

    E Deconinck

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Martino, R., Bretagne, S., Rovira, M. et al. Toxoplasmosis after hematopoietic stem transplantation. Report of a 5-year survey from the Infectious Diseases Working Party of the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation. Bone Marrow Transplant 25, 1111–1114 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bmt.1702396

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