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Luis Enrique Jerez Puebla

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**Chapter 7** 

© 2012 Hughes Okafor, licensee InTech. This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2012 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution,

**Pattern of Clinical Presentations** 

**in Immunocompromised Patient** 

Immunodeficiency (or immune deficiency) is a state in which the immune system's ability to fight infectious disease is compromised or entirely absent. Most cases of immunodeficiency are acquired (secondary) but some people are born with defects in their immune system

The following conditions and diseases that are associated with primary immunodeficiency disorder include, Combined variable immunodeficiency disease, Ataxia-telangiectasia, Chediak-Higashi syndrome, Complement deficiencies, DiGeorge syndrome, Hypogammaglobulinemia, Job syndrome, Leukocyte adhesion defects, Bruton disease, Congenital agammaglobulinemia, Selective deficiency of IgA, Wiscott-Aldrich syndrome etc

As for acquired immunodeficiency, in 2006, UNAIDS and the World Health Organization estimated that approximately 39.5 million people were living with HIV. That year alone, there were 4.3 million new infections, with the majority occurring in sub-Saharan Africa. HIV targets T cells, and in particular, T helper cells, which are critical to fighting infections caused by fungi and parasites. This is why people with advanced, untreated AIDS develop

Since transplanted organs such as kidneys, hearts, livers, and lungs are foreign bodies, recipients' immune systems must be permanently suppressed to prevent them from attacking and destroying the organs. More than 19,000 transplants are performed in the United States each year. Each month, approximately 3,700 people are added to the U.S. national transplant waiting list, and each day, 77 people receive organ transplants. The breakthrough in transplant technology occurred in 1983 when cyclosporine, a powerful immunosuppressive drug, became licensed. However, even with cyclosporine, transplanted organs typically only last around 10 years before needing to be replaced. Research efforts to

and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

unusual infections such as *Pneumocystis carinii* pneumonia and *Toxoplasmosis gondii*.

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Umezurike Hughes Okafor

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/51519

(Primary) immunodeficiency.

**1. Introduction** 

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