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Varicella zoster virus‐associated disease in adult kidney transplant recipients: incidence and risk‐factor analysis
Author(s) -
Arness T.,
Pedersen R.,
Dierkhising R.,
Kremers W.,
Patel R.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
transplant infectious disease
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.69
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1399-3062
pISSN - 1398-2273
DOI - 10.1111/j.1399-3062.2007.00289.x
Subject(s) - medicine , incidence (geometry) , varicella zoster virus , immunosuppression , hazard ratio , risk factor , transplantation , cohort , kidney transplantation , medical record , pediatrics , surgery , immunology , virus , confidence interval , physics , optics
Varicella zoster virus (VZV)‐related disease, particularly herpes zoster, is a complication of organ transplantation due to long‐term immunosuppression. We determined the incidence and risk factors for post‐transplant VZV infection by retrospectively reviewing the medical records of a cohort of 612 adult renal transplant recipients transplanted at Mayo Clinic Rochester between October 1, 2001 and October 1, 2004. Thirty‐seven subjects developed herpes zoster, corresponding to a follow‐up time‐adjusted incidence of 11.2% at 4 years post transplant. The incidence rate of zoster was relatively constant between 6 months and 4 years, yielding an average incidence of approximately 28 per 1000 person‐years. The risk of developing post‐transplant zoster increased with increasing age at transplant, with each decade conferring a 1.42‐fold ( P =0.009) increase in risk of zoster development. Seronegativity at time of transplant conferred over 3 times the risk of development of post‐transplant zoster (hazard ratio 3.4; P =0.04) compared with seropositivity. Adult kidney transplant recipients are at high risk for the development of post‐transplant zoster.