title: Pneumonitis in human cytomegalovirus infection.
abstract: Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a beta herpes virus with a double stranded DNA genome of 240kbp. The virus is prevalent and establishes a latent infection in most adults. HCMV is an opportunistic pathogen for patients with impaired cellular immunity. HCMV pneumonia is a common presentation of HCMV disease in immunocompromised patients. The incidence of HCMV pneumonitis can be as high as 90% in lung transplant recipients. This paper takes a fresh look at the challenging perspectives of molecular, immunologic, cellular, diagnostic, clinical, and therapeutic characteristics of HCMV infection as future targets for development of antiviral strategies.
authors.affiliation: James J. Peters VA Medical Center, 130 West Kingsbridge Road, Bronx, NY 10468, USA. erik.langhoff@med.va.gov
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Langhoff
authors.forename: Robert E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Siegel