Immune
System
The complex group of
cells and tissues that protect the body from disease by destroying
infected and malignant cells, removing waste, and rejecting foreign
substances. There’s a lot going on in your life after a transplant
operation. Your new organ is helping your body function better.You
may be feeling better than you did before the operation. But, in order
to keep your body from rejecting the organ, you are taking medicines
to “deactivate” the body’s natural defense system.These
are called immunosuppressive drugs because they “suppress,”
or hold back, your immune system from doing what it is supposed to:
attack everything inside you it does not recognize as part of you,
including your new organ!
This is the same immune system that goes to the rescue if you have
a cut and germs get into your bloodstream.Your body reacts by producing
antibodies that kick off the body’s immune response. Part of
that response is the release of special white blood cells that rush
to the site to attack the offending foreign substances, thus preventing
any number of infections. Sometimes, after infection, viruses go dormant
(literally, go to sleep) in your body. Dormant infections can “awaken,”
or reactivate, years after the initial infection, even in healthy
people, and cause a new disease. For example, after a childhood illness
such as chickenpox, some of the germs go dormant.They can reactivate
as shingles in an adult.Transplant patients and others with immune
systems weakened by illness or medication are at higher risk of dormant
infections becoming active.
Transplant patients
are also at higher risk of developing opportunistic infections.Though
the organisms that cause this type of infection don’t normally
cause diseases in healthy people, they have the opportunity —
a chance — to do so in those with weakened immune systems. You
can also more easily catch any new bug that comes along from other
people. And, transplant patients are at risk of getting infections
from the organ or blood donation process. However, this does not happen
often because donors go through special laboratory tests before donating
blood or any organ. Though the risk of infection is higher after transplantation
because parts of your immune system have been “turned off,”
there are several things you can do to avoid infections. At the least,
try to stay away from folks who are visibly ill, avoid close contact
with children — especially those with runny noses! and wash
your hands frequently.