Weak immune people at risk of contracting life threatening infections

Rawalpindi : The change in weather conditions has made people living with immunodeficiency more vulnerable to contracting infections particularly the respiratory tract infections including colds, flu, throat infections, pneumonia and acute bronchitis.

Virus, bacteria, fungus, parasites and a number of other organisms that can cause infections lurk anywhere people have been but it is the body’s defence system, the immunity that fights off these organisms and if a person’s immunity gets weak, he or she becomes more vulnerable to get infection, said Head of Department of Infectious Diseases (DID) at Rawalpindi Medical University Professor Dr. Muhammad Mujeeb Khan while talking to ‘The News’ on Friday.

He added the chances of incidences of various infections are increased with the change in weather conditions as the environment inside homes and offices becomes more polluted because of poor ventilation systems. A poorly ventilated room with a crowd contains greater number of organisms causing various infections, he said.

People who got their immunity weaken whether because of some congenital or primary disorder with which they have born or due to acquired or secondary disorder, the disorder they got later in life may get infections frequently and may have to stay longer with the infections, he said.

He added the immunocompromised (having an impaired immune system) people are also at greater risk of complications of the infections and may face life-threatening conditions in certain cases.

It is important that in winter both the children and adults suffer from cold and upper and lower respiratory tract infections ten times as often as all the other diseases combined mainly because of poor quality of air that is engulfed by dusty clouds, toxic metals and vapours.

It is estimated at about one million people in the United States (3.6 per cent of the population) are immunocomprised but observations reveal that nearly 10 per cent of Pakistan’s population is imunocompromised including those suffering from chronic diseases including viral hepatitis and diabetes.

It is time for those living with weak immune system to follow precautionary measures to avoid certain infections including respiratory tract infections, said Dr. Mujeeb. He said the patients who have had renal failure, kidney diseases, chronic heart diseases, diabetes or like chronic patients need extra care and should consult with their physicians at the time of change in weather conditions to get proper advice on how to avoid infections.

He added the geriatric patients, the older persons with impaired overall functions, are also at greater risk of contracting mild to moderate and severe infections in some cases at the time of change in weather conditions and they also need extra care in their diet and medication. Pregnant women also need extra care at the time, he said. The most alarming factor the public should be aware of is that in immune deficient people, the upper RTIs may lead to pneumonia and acute bronchitis heading to respiratory failure and ultimately death, said Dr. Mujeeb.