Opportunistic infections
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An opportunistic infection is an infectious disorder caused by pathogens that usually do not cause disease in a healthy immune system. A compromised immune system, however, presents an "opportunity" for the pathogen to infect.
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[edit] Evidence for the link betweeen opportunistic infections and psychological factors
[edit] Possible explainations of this link
A link between psychological factors and such infections may occur in a number of waysways:
- Immunodeficiency or immunosuppression can be caused by physical and psychological stress see psychoneuroimmunology
- The increased rate of infection may be seen to be linked to psychological conditions which are related to a common Genetic predisposition.
[edit] Other causes
- Malnutrition
- Recurrent infections
- Immunosuppressing agents for organ transplant recipients
- Chemotherapy for cancer
- AIDS or HIV-infection
- Skin damage
- Antibiotic treatment
- Medical procedures
- Pregnancy
[edit] Types of infections
These infections include:
- Pneumocystis jirovecii, previously known as Pneumocystis carinii f. hominis
- Candida albicans
- Staphylococcus aureus
- Streptococcus pyogenes
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa
- Polyomavirus JC polyomavirus, the virus that causes Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy.
- Acinetobacter baumanni
- Toxoplasma gondii
- Cytomegalovirus
- Aspergillus sp.
- Kaposi's Sarcoma
[edit] Treatment
Treatment depends on the type of opportunistic infection, but usually involves different antibiotics.
[edit] See also
[edit] References & Bibliography
[edit] Key texts
[edit] Books
[edit] Papers
[edit] Additional material
[edit] Books
[edit] Papers
[edit] External links
| This page uses content from the English-language version of Wikipedia. The original article was at Opportunistic infection. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Psychology Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License. |
