Increased pulmonary superinfections in cardiac transplant patients undergoing primary cytomegalovirus infection

Preliminary observations and the work of others suggest that cardiac-transplant and renal-transplant patients seronegative for cytomegalovirus are at significantly greater risk of pulmonary superinfections than those who are seropositive before transplantation. Since we cannot predict which seronegative patients will become infected with cytomegalovirus, deliberate immunization with cytomegalovirus before transplantation may protect not only against primary cytomegalovirus disease itself but also against potentially fatal pulmonary bacterial superinfection.