Viral infections in patients with hematological malignancies

Abstract

Enormous advances in the control of bacterial and fungal pathogens have occurred over the last decade. Although host factors such as impairment of granulocyte function or impaired mucosal barrier integrity are major risk factors for bacterial and fungal pathogens, compromise of cell-mediated immunity, especially of cytotoxic thymus-derived lymphocytes (T cells), appears to be most significant in accounting for susceptibility to viral pathogens. As dose intensity of the chemotherapeutic regimens used in the therapy of hematological malignancies has escalated over the last decade, greater susceptibility to viral pathogens has emerged.