Why Do People Get Infections After Organ Transplantation?

Sometimes, when organs like the kidneys or liver get sick, the only way to make people better is by replacing the sick organ with a healthy one. This special surgery is called organ transplantation, and the person who gets the new organ is called the recipient. White blood cells in the recipient’s body, which act like soldiers to protect people from microbes that make them sick, might think the new organ is a dangerous invader and try to destroy it. To prevent this attack on the new organ, recipients need to take special drugs called immunosuppressive agents, which make their soldier cells “sleep”. However, these drugs can make the recipient more likely to get sick from microbes, and they might develop diseases like pneumonia, urinary or wound infections. In this article, we will discuss the main characteristics of infections in transplant recipients and what can be done to prevent them.