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Vaccination after stem cell transplantation Volume 7, issue 6, Novembre - Décembre 2001

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Authors
Service d'hématologie, hôpital Henri-Mondor, Créteil, France.

The ultimate goal of stem cell transplantation is to cure the patient from the underlying disease, and offer the best chance to expect a normal, or almost normal, life expectancy when compared to the normal population. However, stem cell transplant is responsible for an immune deficiency, variable according to many parameters, leading to the loss of acquired immunity to infectious agents encountered in the normal population and for which there is a routine immunization program. Moreover, transplant increases the risk of infections with pathogens, such as S. pneumoniae or H. influenzae, for which there are available vaccines. We summarize the main data of the literature about the immune response to vaccination after stem cell transplant, the rational and general principles of immunization, and the immunization schedules recommended by the European Bone and Marrow Transplantation Group and the Center for Diseases Control.