An immuno compromised host, particularly in the field of infectious disease indicates an increased susceptibility to an severity of infection.
Immunocompromise describes patient populations including groups with diabetes, end-stage renal disease, autoimmune inflammatory conditions, HIV, malignancy, hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients and solid organ transplant recipients, and primary immunodeficiency syndromes.
Therapies that target malignancies and autoimmune disease can cause immunosuppression which are rapidly introduced.
With respiratory failure who require mechanical ventilation have mortality rates of 60-100% depending on age, diagnosis, functional status, presence or absence of multiorgan failure and the duration of neutropenia.
Elderly patients with diminished delayed-type hypersensitivity skin tests have a higher morbidity, mortality from cancer, pneumonia, and postoperative complications.
Immunocompromised patients require vaccines.
Inactivated influenza vaccines and recombinant influenza virus vaccines are recommended for household contacts or caregivers of severely immunosuppressed persons should receive live attenuated or recombinant vaccines and not live attenuated influenza vaccines.