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March 27, 2002

INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"Immunizations in Solid-Organ Transplant Recipients"

Lancet (www.thelancet.com) (03/16/02) Vol. 359, No. 9310, P. 957; Stark, Klaus; G|nther, Matthias; Schonfeld, Christian

More than 600,000 solid-organ transplantations have been performed worldwide, and according to a review published in The Lancet, this number will continue to increase.  Improvements in surgical techniques and immunosuppressive treatments have resulted in an increase of survival rates approaching 70 percent to 90 percent. However, diseases such as hepatitis and influenza pose major health hazards for solid-organ transplant patients; vaccination is crucial to prevent infection, yet the increase of antibody levels in solid-organ transplantation patients might indicate successful vaccination, but not protection.  The immunosuppressive agents needed to force the body into accepting the new organ also open the body to many outside diseases normally kept away quite easily by the immune system.  To date, research on the vaccination of solid-organ transplantation patients is almost non-existent; thus, the authors hope to stimulate research in this area.

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