TY - JOUR

T1 - Influenza in Liver and Kidney Transplant Recipients

T2 - Incidence and Outcomes

AU - Arentoft, Nicoline Stender

AU - Møller, Dina Leth

AU - Knudsen, Andreas Delhbæk

AU - Abdulovski, Ranya

AU - Kirkby, Nikolai

AU - Sørensen, Søren Schwartz

AU - Rasmussen, Allan

AU - Nielsen, Susanne Dam

N1 - Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2023 Arentoft et al.

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - Influenza is a common respiratory tract infection in solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients. We aimed to investigate the incidence, risk factors, and complications of influenza in a large cohort of kidney and liver transplant recipients over 10 consecutive seasons. We conducted a retrospective study, including 378 liver and 683 kidney transplant recipients who were transplanted from January 1, 2010, to October 1, 2019. The data on influenza were retrieved from MiBa, which is a nationwide database that contains all of the microbiology results in Denmark. Clinical data were retrieved from patient records. Incidence rates and cumulative incidences were calculated, and risk factors were investigated using time-updated Cox proportional hazards models. The cumulative incidence of influenza in the first 5 years posttransplantation was 6.3% (95% CI: 4.7 to 7.9%). Of the 84 influenza positive recipients, 63.1% had influenza A, 65.5% were treated with oseltamivir, 65.5% were hospitalized, and 16.7% developed pneumonia. There were no significant differences in outcomes when comparing patients with influenza A and B. We found no significant effect of same-season influenza vaccination, sex, age, or comorbidities on the risk of acquiring influenza. The incidence of influenza in kidney and liver recipients is high, and 65.5% of infected transplant recipients required hospitalization. We were not able to confirm a reduction in influenza incidence or in the risk of complications associated with vaccination.

AB - Influenza is a common respiratory tract infection in solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients. We aimed to investigate the incidence, risk factors, and complications of influenza in a large cohort of kidney and liver transplant recipients over 10 consecutive seasons. We conducted a retrospective study, including 378 liver and 683 kidney transplant recipients who were transplanted from January 1, 2010, to October 1, 2019. The data on influenza were retrieved from MiBa, which is a nationwide database that contains all of the microbiology results in Denmark. Clinical data were retrieved from patient records. Incidence rates and cumulative incidences were calculated, and risk factors were investigated using time-updated Cox proportional hazards models. The cumulative incidence of influenza in the first 5 years posttransplantation was 6.3% (95% CI: 4.7 to 7.9%). Of the 84 influenza positive recipients, 63.1% had influenza A, 65.5% were treated with oseltamivir, 65.5% were hospitalized, and 16.7% developed pneumonia. There were no significant differences in outcomes when comparing patients with influenza A and B. We found no significant effect of same-season influenza vaccination, sex, age, or comorbidities on the risk of acquiring influenza. The incidence of influenza in kidney and liver recipients is high, and 65.5% of infected transplant recipients required hospitalization. We were not able to confirm a reduction in influenza incidence or in the risk of complications associated with vaccination.

KW - influenza

KW - kidney transplantation

KW - liver transplantation

KW - medical outcomes

KW - risk factors

KW - transplantation

KW - vaccines

U2 - 10.1128/spectrum.03226-22

DO - 10.1128/spectrum.03226-22

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 36976014

AN - SCOPUS:85158048613

VL - 11

JO - Microbiology spectrum

JF - Microbiology spectrum

SN - 2165-0497

IS - 2

M1 - e03226-22

ER -