Patients with compromised immune systems are more susceptible to which type of infections?

Patients with compromised immune systems are more susceptible to opportunistic infections because these infections are caused by pathogens that typically do not cause disease in healthy individuals. In individuals with weakened immune defenses, such as those undergoing chemotherapy, organ transplantation, or suffering from conditions like HIV/AIDS, the body's ability to fight off these normally non-threatening organisms is significantly reduced.

Opportunistic infections can include a range of microorganisms, such as certain bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites, that take advantage of the compromised state to provoke illness. This makes preventive measures, such as vaccination and stringent infection control protocols, particularly crucial for these patients to avoid these infections.

In contrast, primary infections are caused by pathogens that can cause disease regardless of the immune status, chronic infections typically refer to long-term infections that persist over time, and nonspecific infections do not differentiate based on the immune status of the individual.