What are the signs of a weak immune system?
A weak immune system puts us at risk for recurrent infections that can be very severe at times.
But what are the signs and symptoms of a weak immune system?
When we talk about the immune system, we mean the whole set that includes white blood cells and their products such as antibodies, lymph nodes and the body's defense organs.
In the following, we will acquaint you with the signs and symptoms of a weak immune system.
What are the signs and symptoms of a weak immune system?
Before describing the symptoms of a weak immune system, it is best to get acquainted with some of the causes that lead to a weak immune system. These causes are:
- Acquired immunodeficiency problem or AIDS (caused by HIV)
- Prolonged and serious malnutrition
- Chronic viral hepatitis
- Cancers
- Some drugs (especially those used in people who have had an organ transplant to prevent rejection and some chemotherapy drugs)
- Corticosteroid compounds weaken the immune system if taken for a long time and in high doses
- Diabetes and obesity can also be mentioned as one of the causes of weak immune system.
Weak immune systems in these people expose the sufferer to multiple viral, bacterial and fungal infections.
In people with weak immunity, the covid 19 virus can also be dangerous.
What are the signs of immunodeficiency?
The following symptoms may be a sign of a weak immune system:
- Increased risk of infections:
A person with a weak immune system is more likely to get infections than healthy people and in addition to being more infected, the severity of infections in a person with a weak immune system is higher than others.
Bacterial, viral and fungal infections include the following:
- Meningitis (infection of the meningeal membrane around the brain and spinal cord)
- Pneumonia (lung tissue infections)
- Bronchitis (respiratory tract infection)
- Types of skin and mucosal infections
- Frequent mouth sores
- Slowing down the healing process of wounds
If you have a weak immune system, the number of white blood cells that are needed to repair tissue damage is low. Sometimes, in some immune disorders, the production of some of these substances decreases, so your wounds heal slowly.
- Suffering from autoimmune diseases:
People with Immune system defects are more likely to develop autoimmune diseases
Inflammations of internal organs such as pancreatitis, etc. are more likely in these people
- Decreased appetite
- Frequent diarrhea
- Abdominal cramps
- Feeling weak and tired all the time
Types of immunodeficiency:
- Primary or genetic immunodeficiency:
An infant with this type of disease has a weak immune system from birth, which exposes him to many problems.
Primary or genetic immunodeficiency causes one or more components of the child's immune system to be defective quantitatively or qualitatively, so the child becomes infected frequently and is hospitalized several times a year.
Recurrent infections are a major symptom of primary immunodeficiency.
If you see the following in your child, it is best to see a pediatrician for a checkup:
- Ear infections eight or more times a year
- Pneumonia (infection of the lung tissue) twice or more a year
- Severe sinusitis twice or more a year
- Not receiving a proper treatment response despite receiving two weeks of proper antibiotics
- Resistant oral thrush (more than one month)
- Lack of proper weight
- Lack of normal growth in proportion to age
- Experience osteomyelitis or bone infection in a child
- Having meningitis twice or more during the year
- Infection of skin abscesses and other organs
- Frequent and resistant fungal infections of the skin after one year
- History of receiving injectable antibiotics in the child
- There is even one person with an immunodeficiency in the child's family
- Incidence of sepsis or bloodstream infection
There are more than two hundred types of congenital or primary immunodeficiency
As we said, the main symptom of all of them is recurrent infections. We do not mean the common colds in children. In the above, we mentioned the infections that should be examined by a pediatrician.