Pre-Transplantation Strategies for Infectious Disease Mitigation and Prevention

Pediatric Infectious Disease (ID) clinicians play a critical role in helping prevent and mitigate infectious risks in children peri- and
post-transplantation. Prevention starts during the pre-transplant evaluation and persists throughout the solid organ transplant and
hematopoietic cell transplant continuum. The pre-transplant evaluation is an opportunity to screen for latent infections, plan preventative
strategies, optimize immunizations, and discuss risk mitigation practices. An ideal pre-transplant evaluation establishes a relationship
with the family that further promotes post-transplant infectious risk reduction. This manuscript builds on shared pediatric
ID prevention strategies, introduces updated ID testing recommendations for transplant donors/candidates, highlights emerging
data, and identifies ongoing knowledge gaps that are potential areas of research.
Key words. hematopoietic cell transplantation; pediatric; pre-transplant evaluation; prevention; safe living; screening; solid
organ transplantation; vaccination.