Immunity to infection. Infection in primary immunodeficiency
Bernatowska, E.
Przeglad Epidemiologiczny 55(Suppl 3): 68-75
2001
ISSN/ISBN: 0033-2100 PMID: 11984963 Document Number: 534571
The human body has an elaborate system of local and systemic, immune (cellular, humoral) and nonimmune (skin, mucous membranes) defense mechanisms to protect itself against microbal invaders. Disorders of this intricate system of host defense may generally be classified as primary or secondary. Unusual pathogens infect immunocompromised hosts. Ubiquitous organisms can become opportunistic pathogens. Reactivation of latent organisms is common in this group of patients. Despite their unusual features, infections in the primary immunodeficiency do not occur in a haphazard fashion but rather are predictable depending on the type of immune defects.