Page 174 - Haematologica Vol. 110 - January 2025

ARTICLE - Multiple myeloma and the risk of infections Overall, patients with symptomatic MM had a 5-fold risk
(HR=5.30; 95% CI: 5.14-5.47) of developing a clinically sig- nificant infection compared to matched controls. Bacterial infections represented a 5-fold (HR=4.88; 95% CI: 4.70-5.07) increased risk, viral (HR=6.84; 95% CI: 6.46-7.26) and fungal infections a 7-fold risk (HR=6.77; 95% CI: 6.13-7.47) compared to controls. More specifically, MM patients had an increased risk of the following bacterial infections compared to controls:
A
C.H. Blimark et al.
meningitis, septicemia, pneumonia, endocarditis, cellulitis, osteomyelitis, pyelonephritis, endocarditis, and for the viral infections: influenza, herpes zoster, cytomegalovirus (CMV), Epstein Barr virus (EBV), SARS-Cov-2, and herpes simplex and respiratory syncytial (RS) virus infection (Table 2).
The overall risk of infections compared to controls was 7-fold the first year after diagnosis, and remained elevated up to 5 years after the MM diagnosis (Table 2; Figure 3). The risk of
B
C
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Figure 2. Incidence of infections before multiple myeloma diagno- sis and over time in patients and controls. (A) In multiple myeloma (MM) patients, (B) MM patients with previously known smoldering mul- tiple myeloma and (C) MM patients with previously known monoclonal gammopathy with undetermined significance.