Guidelines for preventing opportunistic infections among hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients - Recommendations of CDC, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, and the American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplation

CDC, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, and the American Society o f Blood and Marrow Transplantation have cosponsored these guidelines for pr eventing opportunistic infections (OIs) among hematopoietic stem cell trans plant (HSCT) recipients. The guidelines were drafted with the assistance of a working group of experts in infectious diseases, transplantation, and pu blic health. For the purposes of this report, HSCT is defined as any transp lantation of blood- or marrow-derived hematopoietic stem cells, regardless of transplant type (i.e., allogeneic or autologous) or cell source (i.e., b one marrow, peripheral blood, or placental or umbilical cord blood). Such O Is as bacterial, viral, fungal, protozoal, and helminth infections occur wi th increased frequency or severity among HSCT recipients. These evidence-ba sed guidelines contain information regarding preventing OIs, hospital infec tion control, strategies for safe living after transplantation, vaccination s, and hematopoietic stem cell safety. The disease-specific sections addres s preventing exposure and disease for pediatric and adult and autologous an d allogeneic HSCT recipients. The goal of these guidelines is twofold: to s ummarize current data and provide evidence-based recommendations regarding preventing OIs among HSCT patients. The guidelines were developed for use b y HSCT recipients, their household and close contacts, transplant and infec tious diseases physicians, HSCT center personnel, and public health profess ionals. For all recommendations, prevention strategies are rated by the str ength of the recommendation and the quality of the evidence supporting the recommendation. Adhering to these guidelines should reduce the number and s everity of OIs among HSCT recipients.