Risk of lymphoid malignancies increased after Puumala virus infection in Finland, 2009-2019 : A retrospective register-based cohort study

Abstract

Objectives: The Puumala virus (PUUV) is a hantavirus that causes hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome. Studies showing an increased risk of lymphoid malignancies after hantavirus infection, together with the observation that PUUV infects B cells, motivated us to study the risk of lymphoid malignancies after PUUV infection. Methods: We linked data from the Finnish Cancer Registry and National Infectious Diseases Register for 2009-2019. We used a time-dependent Cox regression model to evaluate the hazard of the lymphoid malignancies grouped according to the HAEMACARE classification. Results: We identified 68 cases of lymphoid malignancies after PUUV infection among 16,075 PUUV-infected individuals during 61,114,826 person-years of observation. A total of 10 cases occurred within 3-<12 months and 38 within 1-<5 years after PUUV infection, and the risk of lymphoid malignancies increased with hazard ratios (HRs) of 2.0 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.1-3.7) and 1.6 (95% CI, 1.2-2.3), respectively. The group of mature B cell neoplasms showed an increased risk 3-<12 months and 1-<5 years after PUUV infection, HR 2.2 (95% CI, 1.2-4.3) and HR 1.8 (95% CI, 1.3-2.5), respectively. Conclusion: PUUV infection is associated with lymphoid malignancies in the Finnish population, supporting the earlier studies. Further research is required to understand the pathophysiological mechanisms behind this association.