Antibiotic Exposure before Respiratory Viral Infection Is Associated with Progression to Lower Respiratory Tract Disease in Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplant Recipients

Prophylactic and empiric antibiotic use are part of standard care for high-risk patients, especially hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipients, and reduce the risk of morbidity and mortality associated with life-threatening bacterial infections [1-4]. On the other hand, emerging data suggest that antibiotic exposure can affect other adverse transplant outcomes [5-7]. Although the exact mechanism remains elusive, the immunomodulatory effects of antibiotics via altered gut microbiota on the susceptibility to bacterial infection or graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) may be a plausible explanation [6,8-13].

Source: Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation - May 17, 2018 Category: Hematology Authors: Chikara Ogimi, Elizabeth M. Krantz, Jonathan L. Golob, Alpana Waghmare, Catherine Liu, Wendy M. Leisenring, Christopher R. Woodard, Sara Marquis, Jane M. Kuypers, Keith R. Jerome, Steven A. Pergam, David N. Fredricks, Mohamed L. Sorror, Janet A. Englund, Source Type: research