Immunogenicity and safety of the meningococcal B recombinant (4CMenB) vaccine in allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation recipients.

Objectives: Despite a high risk of invasive meningococcal (Men) disease, there is no published data on any MenB vaccine after hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). We investigated the immunogenicity and safety of the 4CMenB recombinant vaccine (Bexsero) in adult HCT recipients.

Methods: Patients were eligible from 6 months post-HCT to receive 2 4CMenB doses at 2-month intervals.

Donor-Derived Myeloid Heme Oxygenase-1 Controls the Development of Graft-Versus-Host Disease.

Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) remains a major clinical drawback of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Here, we investigated how the stress responsive heme catabolizing enzyme heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1, encoded by ) regulates GVHD in response to allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in mice and humans. We found that deletion of the allele, specifically in the myeloid compartment of mouse donor bone marrow, promotes the development of aggressive GVHD after allogeneic transplantation.

Long-Term Immunity to Measles after Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation: Factors Associated with Seroprotection before Revaccination.

Measles can be a life-threatening infection in immunocompromised patients, especially after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) because of the corresponding loss of immunity. However, measles vaccines are live-attenuated, which is why measles vaccinations are recommended only in seronegative HCT recipients and in specific conditions. However, little data exist on the rates of seroprotection to measles with the current conditioning regimens and in long-term follow-up.

Antipneumococcal Seroprotection Years After Vaccination in Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplant Recipients.

Background: International guidelines recommend vaccinating allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipients at 3 months after transplant, giving 3 doses of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) followed by either a dose of 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PSV23) or a fourth PCV dose in the case of graft-versus-host disease (GvHD). However, the long-term immunity after this regimen is unknown, and there is no recommendation from 24 months after transplant regarding boosts. Our objective was to assess the antipneumococcal antibody titers and seroprotection rates of allogeneic HCT recipients years after different schedules of vaccination.

Toxoplasmosis as an Early Complication of Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation.

Among 419 consecutive allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant recipients, we observed 17 (4.0%) cases of toxoplasmosis at a median time of day 45 (range, 6 to 322) after transplant. Seven of these 17 cases occurred before day 30 after transplant.

Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia prophylaxis in allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant recipients: can we always follow the guidelines?

Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PCP) is a life-threatening disease in allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) recipients. Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) is the preferred prophylaxis but has significant toxicity. We assessed 139 consecutive HCT patients for PCP prophylaxis in our center.

Economic burden of preemptive treatment of CMV infection after allogeneic stem cell transplantation: a retrospective study of 208 consecutive patients.

Background: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection and disease (CMV episodes) are global concerns after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). They affect survival, both by direct and indirect effects. Due to safety issues of current anti-CMV antivirals, long-term CMV prophylaxis is poorly tolerated and the most common strategy to decrease the incidence of CMV disease is preemptive.

Donor Immunization Against Human Leukocyte Class II Antigens is a Risk Factor for Graft-versus-Host Disease.

The sensitization to HLA antigens is caused mainly by pregnancy and transfusions; however, anti-HLA antibodies also may be detected in nulliparous females and nontransfused males, and thus specifically in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) donors. In such cases, the impact on HSCT outcome is known only for platelet transfusion refractoriness. This study addresses the impact on graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) of anti-HLA antibodies detected in voluntary unrelated donors.

Impact of invasive fungal disease on the chemotherapy schedule and event-free survival in acute leukemia patients who survived fungal disease: a case-control study.

Patients with acute leukemia who initially survive invasive fungal disease must receive chemotherapy or go on to transplant. Many centers change subsequent chemotherapy to decrease the risk of fungal reactivation. This case-control study compared acute leukemia patients (n=28) who developed a proven or probable fungal disease and survived four weeks later, to patients who did not (n=78), and assessed the impact of fungal disease on the chemotherapy regimens, and overall and event-free survival.

Class II transposon-borne structure harboring metallo-beta-lactamase gene blaVIM-2 in Pseudomonas putida.

A plasmid-encoded class II transposon element was identified in a carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas putida isolate. Tn1332, closely related to Tn1331, harbored the metallo-beta-lactamase gene bla(VIM-2) in addition to four other antibiotic resistance genes, aacA4, aadA1, bla(OXA-9), and bla(TEM-1), and two novel insertion sequences, ISPpu17 and ISPpu18.

Involvement of the MexXY-OprM efflux system in emergence of cefepime resistance in clinical strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Cefepime (FEP) and ceftazidime (CAZ) are potent beta-lactam antibiotics with similar MICs (1 to 2 mug/ml) for wild-type strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. However, recent epidemiological studies have highlighted the occurrence of isolates more resistant to FEP than to CAZ (FEPr/CAZs profile). We thus investigated the mechanisms conferring such a phenotype in 38 clonally unrelated strains collected in two French teaching hospitals.

Genetic environment and expression of the extended-spectrum beta-lactamase blaPER-1 gene in gram-negative bacteria.

The genetic location of the gene coding for the expanded-spectrum beta-lactamase PER-1 was analyzed in a series of gram-negative isolates. It was identified as part of a composite transposon bracketed by two novel insertion elements, ISPa12 and ISPa13, belonging to the IS4 family that possess transposases that share 63% amino acid identity and that are chromosomally located in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Providencia stuartii, and Acinetobacter baumannii. On the contrary, the bla(PER-1) gene was identified just downstream of an ISPa12 element but not within a composite transposon when it was located on a plasmid in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium and A.