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Common cold can kill lung transplant patients

Respiratory Care Weekly, December 20, 2006

Whereas the common cold can be a nuisance for most people, it can be fatal when you've just had a lung transplant and are taking anti-rejection drugs that suppress the immune system, according to the December American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. Of 69 lung transplant patients studied, eight caught human rhinoviruses, three couldn't shake it easily, and two eventually died.

"Our evidence demonstrates that rhinoviral disease is not exclusively limited to the upper respiratory tract," said Laurent Kaiser, MD, of the Central Laboratory of Virology at the University Hospital of Geneva. "It can also lead to lower respiratory complications, which immunosuppressed patients can be at higher risk of developing."

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