Respiratory disease due to parainfluenza virus in adult leukemia patients

• Published in: European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases 2003-02, Vol.22 (2), p.79-84
• Main Authors: MARCOLINI, J. A, MALIK, S, SUKI, D, WHIMBEY, E, BODEY, G. P
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Age Distribution; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Biological and medical sciences; Cancer; Cohort Studies; Comorbidity; Cytomegalovirus; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Human viral diseases; Humans; Immunocompromised Host; Incidence; Infections; Infectious diseases; Lavage; Leukemia; Leukemia - epidemiology; Leukemia - immunology; Logistic Models; Lymphocytes; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Mortality; Multivariate Analysis; Neutropenia; Neutrophils; Parainfluenza virus; Parainfluenza Virus 1, Human - isolation & purification; Patients; Pneumonia; Probability; Registries; Respiratory diseases; Respiratory Tract Diseases - epidemiology; Respiratory Tract Diseases - immunology; Respiratory Tract Diseases - virology; Respirovirus Infections - diagnosis; Respirovirus Infections - epidemiology; Risk Factors; Sex Distribution; Statistics, Nonparametric; Survival Rate; Transplants & implants; Viral diseases; Viral diseases of the respiratory system and ent viral diseases; Viruses
• ISSN: 0934-9723; 1435-4373
• DOI: 10.1007/s10096-002-0864-4

Reports of human parainfluenza viruses (HPIV) in patients with leukemia have been limited to a few cases or as a portion of general surveys. In order to expand the knowledge of these infections in this patient group, the frequency and clinical course of HPIV infections was determined among 1,787 patients with leukemia treated at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center between July 1994 and December 1997. HPIV was isolated from 47 (6.2%) of the 770 patients who were cultured for respiratory viruses. HPIV type 3 accounted for 39 of the 47 HPIV infections. Twenty-six patients developed pneumonia, and the associated mortality was 27%. Multivariate analysis revealed that a low absolute lymphocyte count and pneumonia were associated with increased mortality. Concurrent respiratory and other infections were associated with an increased frequency of pneumonia. Only five patients with pneumonia received antiviral therapy and four of them survived the infection. HPIV infection in leukemic patients is frequently associated with pneumonia and the mortality rate from pneumonia is substantial among lymphopenic patients.