Kidney transplantation, associated infections and their therapeutic measures: a literature review

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the pattern of infections related to renal transplant recipients, relating them to possible therapeutic methods. Evaluating, thus, the relevance of the management of infectious conditions. Methods: The methodological approach of this work proposes a compilation of bibliographic research with a qualitative approach and descriptive character through an integrative literature review in the databases used were the National Library of Medicine, Virtual Health Library and Directory of Open Access Journals. The descriptors used were: “kidney transplantation”, “infections” and “therapeutic”. Inclusion criteria were original articles, clinical trials, randomized or non-randomized, case-control studies and cohort studies, open access articles, articles in English, Portuguese, Spanish, between 2017 and 2022. Results: Infectious complications, symptomatic urinary tract infections in general and infections by specific pathogens such as the hepatitis A virus, Epstein-Barr virus, BK polyomavirus, cytomegalovirus, SARS-CoV-2 virus, hepatitis C virus, T lymphotropic virus human type 1 and Simkania negevensis, can affect kidney transplant recipients. Final considerations: Thus, it was observed that as a reflection of immunosuppressive therapy and other factors, such receptors are vulnerable to developing different infectious conditions, having different etiological agents, outcomes and therapeutic measures.