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Expanded infectious diseases screening program for Hispanic transplant candidates
Author(s) -
Fitzpatrick M.A.,
Caicedo J.C.,
Stosor V.,
Ison M.G.
Publication year - 2010
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.1399-3062.2010.00517.x
Subject(s) - medicine , latent tuberculosis , population , tuberculosis , strongyloides stercoralis , serology , chagas disease , immunology , transplantation , disease , kidney transplantation , mycobacterium tuberculosis , pediatrics , environmental health , pathology , antibody , helminths
M.A. Fitzpatrick, J.C. Caicedo, V. Stosor, M.G. Ison. Expanded infectious diseases screening program for Hispanic transplant candidates. Transpl Infect Dis 2010: 12: 336–341. All rights reserved Abstract: Most guidelines for pre‐transplant screening recommend enhanced screening among patients with potential exposure to such pathogens as Strongyloides stercoralis and Trypanosoma cruzi , the cause of Chagas disease. The incidence of these diseases in the Hispanic immigrant population has not been extensively studied. Transplant candidates who were evaluated by our program's Hispanic Transplant Program were referred for expanded infectious disease screening including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, S. stercoralis, Leishmania , and T. cruzi . Between December 2006 and December 2008, 83 patients were screened. Most were from Mexico but we also screened patients from Ecuador, Puerto Rico, and Peru. Most patients lived in urban locations before moving to the United States. Latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) was found in 20%, and 6.7% had serologic evidence of S. stercoralis infection. These patients underwent treatment of latent infection without difficulty. To date, 14 patients have undergone living‐donor kidney transplantation. Two of these patients had positive Leishmania titers and are being followed clinically, 1 was treated for S. stercoralis , and 2 were treated for LTBI pre‐transplant. All have done well without evidence of screened pathogens an average of 348 days (range 65–766 days) post transplant. Expanded screening identifies endemic infections in the Hispanic immigrant population that can be treated before transplant, thereby minimizing post‐transplant infectious complications.