Virus infections after allogeneic stem cell transplantation in children. Review

Viral infections are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children after allogeneic stem cell transplantation (HCT). The risk for viral infections or reactivation after HCT depends on the degree of immunosuppression and the duration of immunodeficiency. Although many viral infections frequently present asymptomatic in affected patients, they can result in severe complications during immunosuppression. Viruses additionally interfere with immune reconstitution after HCT and therefore impact on graft-versus-tumor effects or graft-versus-host disease. This review will focus on clinically relevant viral infections after HCT in children and discuss strategies to prevent viral replication as well as recent advances in diagnostics and treatment