"what are immunocompromised adults"?
115325
Those with weakened immune systems. For instance people with AIDS. The weakened immune system means they are more likely to come down with some illness which (ordinarily) their immune system would fight off.
1132097
immune system is not working properly
74206
I have Adult Onset Primary Immune Deficiency and diabetes. Injuries are life threatening for me. My Immunologyst has me wash with Hibiclens when ever I have open sores. I wash my whole body, following the directions. It even helped a staph infection from an appendectomy.\n\nI bought mine at Walgreens. But here is a web site to get it online.
491225
not usually. A few people with stage 4 disease are cured after a stem cell or bone marrow transplant but this is not the norm for most people. Mycosis fungoides is a chronic indolent cancer of the skin that can be treated and managed to where you don't need drastic treatments like a BMT. About 90% of patients have the indolent form where you can live with it for 30 years or more. About 10% have aggressive disease requiring aggressive treatment in order to avoid a bad outcome. \n\nIf you have stage 1 disease (most common stage at which people are diagnosed) chances are you will lead a normal length life and your MF will not progress if you begin regular treatment now. Some treatments are as simple as using a corticosteroid cream regularly on affected areas of skin. Some people need various other treatments to keep their skin clear of symptoms. MF is not a one treatment fits all type of skin cancer but it is usually highly treatable. Suggest you go to the ACOR website and join the non-commercial listserv for MF patients (about 1000 members currently)\n\nhttp://listserv.acor.org/archives/ctcl-mf.html\n\nand also read up at\n\nhttp://www.clfoundation.org/\n\nhttp://emedicine.com/med/topic1541.htm\n\nTechnically speaking mycosis fungoides is a type of lymphoma that manifests first on the skin and it is not an autoimmune problem.
198869
Yes,lymphoma. What do you wanna know?\n-Cin
874366
The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). ‘Acquired’ means not inherited. ‘Immune deficiency’ means a breakdown in the body’s immune system. ‘Syndrome’ refers to a range of diseases that may be associated with another disease.\n\nIn this case, diseases that take advantage of the body’s weakened immune system are used to define the onset of AIDS. In Australia, HIV is most commonly spread by sexual intercourse without a condom and through sharing needles, syringes and other injecting equipment.\n\nSymptoms\nSymptoms of HIV are common to a number of other illnesses. If you think you have been put at risk of getting HIV, or if you have any of the signs below (or a combination of them) for a month or longer, you should consult your doctor. Symptoms can include: \n\nFlu-like symptoms \nExtreme and constant tiredness \nFevers, chills and night sweats \nRapid weight loss for no known reason \nSwollen lymph glands in the neck, underarm or groin area \nWhite spots or unusual marks in the mouth \nSkin marks or bumps, either raised or flat, usually painless and purplish \nContinuous coughing or a dry cough \nDiarrhoea \nDecreased appetite.\nHow it is spread \nSomeone who has HIV may not have any symptoms, but they carry the virus and could pass it on through blood or body fluids. HIV can be spread in a number of ways, including: \nUnprotected vaginal or anal sex with someone who has HIV \nSharing injecting equipment and needles with someone who has HIV \nFrom a mother who has HIV to a child during pregnancy, birth or via breastfeeding \nUnprotected oral sex with someone who has HIV (this is less common).\nHIV can’t be spread by social contact\nThere is no evidence to suggest that HIV is spread by ordinary social or family contact such as hugging, shaking hands, sharing household items or through toilets seats, swimming pools or pets. HIV doesn’t live long outside of the body. It can be killed by ordinary household bleach, or soap and warm water.\n\nSafe sex explained\nSafe sex means sex where semen, vaginal secretions or blood are not exchanged between sexual partners. Some safe sexual activities include: \nMutual masturbation \nTouching \nCuddling \nBody-to-body rubbing \nErotic massage. \nCondoms \nUsing condoms properly during intercourse (anal and vaginal) will greatly reduce the risk of spreading HIV. Condoms must be used correctly and with plenty of lubricant. Water-based lubricant should be used, as other types of lubricants will cause condoms to break. Female condoms are also available and should also be used with lubricants. \n\nSafe sex can prevent infection\nHIV can be spread by unprotected anal or vaginal sex with someone who has HIV. Safe sex is recommended if either partner has HIV or if either partner is unsure of whether they have HIV. Other sexually transmissible infections (STIs) such as herpes, chlamydia and gonorrhoea can also be spread by unprotected sex. If either partner has an STI, or if either partner is unsure of whether they have an STI, safe sex is also recommended. HIV infection is more readily acquired or transmitted if either partner is infected with another STI.\n\nHIV and oral sex\nUnprotected oral sex is low risk for spreading HIV but using a condom or avoiding ejaculation into the mouth is recommended when either partner has ulcers or bleeding gums, or has recently brushed or flossed their teeth. Condom use may also prevent the spread of other STIs such as herpes, chlamydia and gonorrhoea. These STIs may be spread more easily by unprotected oral sex.\n\nHIV and deep kissing\nOnly very small amounts of HIV are found in the saliva of people who have HIV. For you to get HIV, a lot of saliva would need to get into your blood via ulcers or bleeding gums. Deep kissing is a low risk behaviour for spreading HIV.\n\nHIV and blood products\nSince May 1985, all blood donations in Australia have been tested for HIV. This means that blood transfusion
52631
The first symptoms tend to be either the development of Kaposi's Sarcoma, Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia (a rare kind of pneumonia that only affects immunocompromised people), and oral thrush (a yeast infection in the mouth). Also, having an illness that just won't seem to go away can be a sign. If you suspect you have AIDS, see a doctor right away.
402692
Maybe you mean "Community Acquired Pneumonia (CAP)"?  I have never heard of pneumonia communal, but I practice in the United States.  If your sister lives in the US, I think she likely has CAP, which is the most common form of pneumonia.  It just means that she contracted it in a normal fashion (as opposed to nosocomial pneumonia which is contracted in an acute care setting like a hospital, or atypical pneumonia which involves different bacteria).  It is relatively easy to treat, but with your sister's cancer, she might have to be treated longer (usually treated in 5-10 days; she might require 10-14 days). P.S. - I just read the previous post - I would not pay much attention to that.  MRSA is completely different than community acquired pneumonia...I'm not sure where that person drew the parallel between communal and MRSA.
39986
(can·di·di·a·sis) infection with a fungus of the genus Candida, especially C. albicans. It is usually a superficial infection of the skin or mucous membranes, although sometimes it manifests as a systemic infection or endocarditis; any form can become more severe in immunocompromised patients. Called also moniliasis and candidosis.
894616
Cytomegalovirus, or CMV, is a common virus that infects most people worldwide. CMV infection is usually harmless and rarely causes illness. A healthy immune system can hold the virus in check. However, if a person's immune system is seriously weakened in any way, the virus can become active and cause CMV disease.
633445
There are basically two types of Stem Cell transplants.  One is Autologous...which means the cells are your own that were harvested at an earlier time.  The other is an Allogenic.....which means you received your cells from another person (preferrable a sibling) or a stranger based on HLA matching.  Graft vs Host is fairly common in the second type of transplant (which I'd bet your family member had). Think of it this way... "graft" refers to the cells from transplant, and "host" refers to you family member's body.  The graft cells are foreign to the body, and if the host's immune system recognizes it as foreign if will try to attack and reject it.  It can affect  any part of the body and the prognosis is often determined by where it attacks, and the severity. The most common areas affected are the skin, and stomach. It can be very uncomfortable and hard to treat/get under control. A mild case of GVH is also conseidered a good thing because it can shows the host's immune system is beginning to work. Bone marrow transplants are usually a very rough road, and they often come with many bumps along the way. I hope your family member feels better and enjoys a long life.
193389
Neutrophils, or polymorphonucleocytes, are leukocytes (white blood cells) that are part of the first-response mechanism after cellular injury resulting in inflammation.  They leave now-leaky blood vessels in the vicinity of the injury and phagocytize(i.e. "eat") invading microorganisms and cellular debris.  Thus, they are part of the non-specific immunne response and to tissue injury in the same way whether the person has even been exposed to the cause of injury before.  They play no role in the specific (i.e. acquired) immune response.  Other white blood cells, such as the basophils, also play a role in the non-specific imflammatory response.  It is the macrophages and the different types of T and B lymphocytes that produce the specific (i.e. acquired) immune\nresponse, which leads to the efficient detection and destruction of microorganisms to which the person has been exposed at least once before.  The first exposure is known therefore as the immunizing exposure and often, though not always produces the disease associated with that organism;  subsequent exposures to the same microorganism produce a much greater and effective response that prevents recurrence of the disease. This is why those of us who are old enough had measles, mumps, and chickenpox only once.  Note that this immunizing exposure may be natural (exposure to a wild virus) or artificial (exposure to a modified virus in a vaccine).  This secondary immune response may take the form of rapid production of antibodies specific to that organism by modified, sensitized B lymphocytes called plasma cells. Or it could also take the form of attack on the organisms already inside host cells by sensitized cytotoxic T lymphocytes.  This specific immune response is triggered in the body by the presence of organisms that carry proteins on their surfaces that the immunized person's system recognizes as foreign, or "not-self".  The response can be fooled by viruses which are similar but not identical to the strain that produced the immunizing response.  This is why we can contract influenza and the common cold more than once in our lifetimes; the influenza virus modifies itself over time so that its surface proteins differ from strain to strain.  There are an enormous number of viruses that can cause the common cold, but they  all have different surface proteins, and so exposure to one will not produce immunity to all the rest.\n\nThe components of the specific immune system play another role in body defense.  The same system will immediately recognize as foreign cells coming from another person or the cells of a newly arisen cancer carrying unusual surface proteins.  They then orchestrate an elaborate response that destroys such cells, leading on the one hand to organ or tissue transplant rejection and on the other hand to early destruction of the new cancer before it has a chance to grow and spread.  Much research has gone into the development of  drugs that diminish the response to transplanted organs, and has led to greatly increased rates of organ transplant success in the last 25 years.  Research also continues into ways that the ability of the immune system to detect and destroy cancers, through the use of chemicals that stimulate that response or the augmentation of the response by administration of antibodies that have  been produced outside the person's body but are sensitized to the surface identity of a cancer's cells. \n\nA particular nasty characteristic of Human Immunodeficiency Virus, which causes HIV/AIDS, is that it can modify its surface proteins after it is already in the body of the infected person.  This means that while first exposure causes immunization and production of antibodies against the virus, the virus can nevertheless continue to evade the immune system by changing its surface "identity" and hiding inside even the host's own lymphocytes.  This is primarily why so little progress has been made in the
615781
Wow some of these answers are scaring me.\n\nAIDS is caused by a VIRUS - HIV - not by people.  \n\nWhoever it was that said its been around for a long time had it right - and we won't ever know for sure how and when it started.\n\nYes, it was first identified as a "gay man's disease," but obviously, or I thought obviously, we had moved beyond that.  \n\nAnd if its "punishment," then how do you explain babies becoming infected, and the people that were infected early on from blood transfusions, etc?\n\nCome on people.  Get logical here.\n\nViruses aren't punishments.  Viruses and bacteria don't take personal inventories of those they infect.  They just biologically do their thing, and that is to make people sick.  \n\nHIV isn't a punishment anymore than the common cold or the flu is.
505534
Do you mean "aides" as in assistants or "AIDS" as in acquired immune deficiency syndrome?  You posted your question in the Diseases section so it sounds like you mean AIDS!  Gosh, I hope not.
183116
Last year, over 200,000 people were hospitalized and over 35,000 died from influenza.  The very young, very old, and those with pre-existing pulmonary & cardiac disease and those who are immunocompromised (chemo, immune system defects, HIV) are especially at risk.
97312
Diabetes is really a non-curable disease.  There are many 'tests' and hopeful research being done at this point.  The cure is out there...someplace.  My daughter will tell you that it is in a strange lab somewhere...she was diagnosed when she was two.  There have be SOME successful transplants in adult patients...but they are on high doses of anti-rejection drugs at this point for the rest of their lives.  This would not work for children.  Their immune systems would not be able to handle this.  \nIt can be a sucky disease, but it is a lifestyle, not a disease....
654149
It depends on a few things: how old you were when you had it, how severe your case was, and how healthy you are now.  If you were very young (like, 2 years or younger) it is possible that your body didn't make sufficient antibodies for your adult life.  If you didn't have a very serious case, the same may be true.  If you have a compromised immune system for any reason, you could also be vulnerable.\n\nHowever, if you are healthy, had a pretty solid case previously, and were at least old enough to remember being sick, you're probably okay.  Still, I wouldn't suggest going out of your way to be around your roomates' things.  Wash your hands, get lots of rest, drink lots of fluids - play it safe.