Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

How human cytomegalovirus hijacks the immune system

The human cytomegalovirus, HCMV for short, lies dormant unnoticed in the body of most people for their entire lives. In immunocompromised individuals, however, the virus can cause life-threatening infections. It infects dendritic ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Study finds no higher risk of miscarriage after COVID-19

LUMC research has shown that women who previously had a miscarriage due to COVID-19 are not at increased risk of having another miscarriage or a stillbirth. Nor are preventive drugs needed during the pregnancy.

Surgery

US surgeons perform world's first whole eye transplant

A team of surgeons in New York has performed the world's first transplant of an entire eye in a procedure widely hailed as a medical breakthrough, although it isn't yet known whether the man will ever see through the donated ...

Medications

Maintenance immunosuppressive drugs tied to severe COVID-19

Maintenance immunosuppressive drugs are associated with an increased risk for COVID-19 hospitalization in solid organ transplant recipients, according to a study published online Nov. 7 in JAMA Network Open.

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Immunosuppression

Immunosuppression involves an act that reduces the activation or efficacy of the immune system. Some portions of the immune system itself have immuno-suppressive effects on other parts of the immune system, and immunosuppression may occur as an adverse reaction to treatment of other conditions.

Deliberately induced immunosuppression is generally done to prevent the body from rejecting an organ transplant, treating graft-versus-host disease after a bone marrow transplant, or for the treatment of auto-immune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis or Crohn's disease. This is typically done using drugs, but may involve surgery (splenectomy), plasmapharesis, or radiation.

A person who is undergoing immunosuppression, or whose immune system is weak for other reasons (for example, chemotherapy, HIV, and Lupus) is said to be immunocompromised.

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