WEDNESDAY, Feb. 19, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Solid organ transplant recipients who become febrile weeks after transplantation may have acquired microsporidiosis from Encephalitozoon cuniculi, according to a case series published in the Feb. 18 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Susan N. Hocevar, M.D., from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and colleagues describe three cases of febrile illness among solid organ transplant recipients from a common donor. The authors sought to confirm the source of the illness, assess risk factors, and provide therapy recommendations for recipients.
The researchers note that three recipients of kidneys and lungs from the deceased donor became ill with fever seven to 10 weeks after the transplant. In each recipient, urine culture, serologic, and polymerase chain reaction testing were positive for E. cuniculi genotype III. In all recipients, the organism was also recognized in biopsy or autopsy specimens. The donor also tested positive for E. cuniculi. Albendazole was given to the surviving recipients for treatment. Factors for suspected E. cuniculi infection were not identified on donor assessment.
"Microsporidiosis is now recognized as an emerging transplant-associated disease and should be considered in febrile transplant recipients when tests for routinely encountered agents are unrevealing," the authors conclude.
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