FREE NEJM E-TOC    HOME   |   SUBSCRIBE   |   CURRENT ISSUE   |   PAST ISSUES   |   COLLECTIONS   |   Search Term  Advanced Search

Sign in | Get NEJM's E-Mail Table of Contents — Free | Subscribe

Volume 306:1010-1012 April 29, 1982 Number 17 Next

	Add to Personal Archive Add to Citation Manager Notify a Friend E-mail When Cited PubMed Citation

Abstract

We prospectively evaluated infections with several gastrointestinal pathogens in patients undergoing bone-marrow transplantation, in an attempt to correlate infection with morbidity and mortality. Thirty-one of 78 patients (40 per cent) were infected with one or more of the following enteric pathogens during the study: adenovirus (12 infections), rotavirus (nine), coxsackievirus (four), or Clostridium difficile (12). Several patients were infected with more than one pathogen. Infection correlated with the occurrence of diarrhea and abdominal cramps. The mortality rate among the infected patients was 55 per cent--significantly higher than the rate (13 per cent) among the noninfected patients (P less than 0.001). This study indicates that enteric pathogens that often cause mild diarrhea in normal populations can cause serious infections in marrow-transplant recipients. Measures aimed at preventing or treating such infections might reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with marrow transplantation.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Committee on Infectious Diseases, (2007). Prevention of Rotavirus Disease: Guidelines for Use of Rotavirus Vaccine. Pediatrics 119: 171-182 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Jalal, H., Bibby, D. F., Tang, J. W., Bennett, J., Kyriakou, C., Peggs, K., Cubitt, D., Brink, N. S., Ward, K. N., Tedder, R. S. (2005). First Reported Outbreak of Diarrhea Due to Adenovirus Infection in a Hematology Unit for Adults. J. Clin. Microbiol. 43: 2575-2580 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Aitken, C., Jeffries, D. J. (2001). Nosocomial Spread of Viral Disease. Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 14: 528-546 [Abstract] [Full Text]