You may not realize it, but you probably know at least one person who is immunocompromised.
Immunocompromised, or immunosuppressed, people are more vulnerable to infections and have a harder time fighting them off.
You wouldnt necessarily know it from looking at us, however.
Many health conditions and medications can cause someone to become immunocompromised.
Or maybe you know an older person.Approximately 50 million Americansare over 65, andmanyareimmunocompromisedto some degree.
If a colleague comes to work sick, were more likely to catch what they have.
If we do catch it, were often out of work for longer.
Im lucky to have a job I can do from home.
And COVID-19 has taken the ever present level of risk immunocompromised people face to awhole new level.
There are other frustrations.
That said, a lot of the time, I feel just fine.
Immunosuppression presents in different ways in different people, so my experiences are not universal.
Some immunocompromised people are far sicker than me, and some far less.
You might even be immunocompromised and not know it yet.
How people become immunocompromised
The components of theimmune systemwork together to accomplish two primary goals.
(In medical parlance, these substances are considered nonself.)
Next, they eliminate or neutralize any antigens judged to be potentially harmful.
(Fun fact: more than half of our immune cells are located in our gut.)
Its far from the only one, however.
Of these,malnutritionis by far the most common worldwide.
And then there are autoimmune diseases, which affect somewhere between24 millionto50 million Americans.
Autoimmune diseases are illnesses in which the immune system erroneously attacks healthy cells in the body, causing inflammation.
Symptoms vary widely depending on the pop in of illness and where the inflammation occurs.
The causes of autoimmune diseaseremain a mystery.
Autoimmune disease diagnoses have beensteadily rising, especially in Western nations.
On the flip side, conditions like asthma, eczema, and allergies are caused byan overactive immune system.
But the actual number of immunocompromised adults is almost certainly higher.
You might recognize familiar brand names for these medications like Remicade, Humira, and Stelara.
Biologics do not carry a higher risk of infection, but they have their own side effects.
Chemotheraphy drugs are also immunosuppressants, but withchemotherapy, immune suppression isnt the goal; itsan unfortunate side effect.
Cancer cells are so hardy that the dosage needed to kill them kills many healthy cellsincluding immune cells.
As a result, cancer patients undergoing treatment are among the most immunocompromised members of society.
How many people are immunocompromised?
Unfortunately, we dont have a lot of data on the demographics of immunosuppression.
But the actual number of immunocompromised adults is almost certainly higher.
More significantly, the cost of healthcare andracisminmedicinediscourages many minorities from seeking care.
When they do, they are often nottaken as seriouslyas their white counterparts.
In theory, this is encouraging.
In practice, Im still acting as if contracting COVID-19 would be a death sentence.
I will feel much safer when I am vaccinated.
While some immune suppressing medications and immune conditions prohibit taking live vaccines, the COVID-19 vaccine isntlive.
The biggest question surrounding the COVID vaccine for immunocompromised people is efficacy.
Vaccines work by stimulating your immune system to produce antibodies that will recognize and fight an infection.
If you have a weaker immune system, your body will likely produce a weaker response.
My medication increases my risk of infection, yes.
It even carries the very slim risk of contracting a rare, lethal form oflymphoma.
The pandemic has made me more aware of my vulnerability, and yeah, it sucks.
For me, though, having a flare of ulcerative colitis would suck far more.
(I didnt.)
