The role of the immune response during Influenza H1N1 virus infection is not yet fully established, but it is believed that it decisively participates in the severity of the disease as well as in the development of acute respiratory distress syndrome. The role of immunomodulating therapies in the control of viral infections is not a consensus either, and data from the literature defining the indications for their use are lacking. The present report is, to our knowledge, the first on a heart transplant patient who developed H1N1 virus infection and had a favorable outcome, thus generating discussion on the real role of immunosuppressive therapy as a risk factor for the severe form of the disease.
Influenzavirus A (H1N1); heart transplantation; immunosuppression; pneumonia
