Infection in the Immunocompromised Host

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Abstract
The six articles about infection in immunocompromised hosts in this issue of the Archives underscore a major challenge in modern medicine. The use of systemic corticosteroids, chemotherapeutic agents, and x-ray therapy have been refined to the point where successful organ transplantation and remission of leukemia and other malignancies are commonplace. Serious infection in these patients remains a major risk of immunosuppressive therapy. In addition to compromise of the immune system induced by therapeutic maneuvers, disease processes, such as malignancy and the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, render other patients at risk for infection. With the exception of patients with pemphigus and pemphigoid, who are receiving highdose systemic corticosteroid therapy, dermatologists are not usually primary physicians for immunosuppressed patients. Often, however, they are called in for consultation about patients with compromised immune systems. A high index of suspicion for an infectious process should be maintained when a physician examines a patient who is