Serologic Studies of Infections in Patients with Hematologic Malignancy

Abstract

Serologic studies were made on sera from 77 patients with hematologic malignancies. These patients had a high incidence of cytomegalovirus and EB virus infections and an increased incidence of infections with other herpes viruses. The infections appeared to be due to reactivation of infectious agents in many cases. They occurred in high frequency in patients who received immunosuppressive treatment, but also untreated patients had frequent herpes virus infections. Several patients had multiple, simultaneous infections. Toxoplasmosis was observed in 3 patients, one of whom died with toxoplasma encephalitis. Serologic investigations using bacterial antigens were not very helpful for the diagnosis of infections.