Intensive care medicine

Immunosuppression

Solid organ

Opportunistic infection

Antimicrobial

Surgery

Viral disease

Transplantation

Immunology

Complication

Organic chemistry

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)

Internal medicine

Organ transplantation

Medicine

Chemistry

Disease

Infectious Disease Clinics of North America

Transplants have become common with excellent patient and graft outcomes owing to advances in surgical technique, immunosuppression, and antimicrobial prophylaxis. In 2017, 34,770 solid organ transplants were performed in the United States. For solid organ transplant recipients, infection remains a common complication owing to the regimens required to prevent rejection. Opportunistic infections, which are infections that are generally of lower virulence within a healthy host but cause more severe and frequent disease in immunosuppressed individuals, typically occur in the period 1 month to 1 year after transplantation. This article focuses on opportunistic infections in the solid organ transplant recipient.

Opportunistic Infections in Transplant Patients