“Some therapies, such as type I interferons for MS, may actually enhance the viral immune response,” says Dr. “After treatment, those patients may have a perfectly normal-or even a more robust-immune response,” he says.īecause each autoimmune disease is different, there are different treatments, and each can impact the immune system in its own way. With checkpoint inhibitors, patients aren’t considered to be immunocompromised, Dr. Immunotherapy is also used to enhance immune responses, sometimes using drugs called “checkpoint inhibitors,” for example, to treat certain types of cancer. Stuart Seropian, MD, a Smilow Cancer Hospital hematologist In general, the more immunocompromised someone is, the less effective vaccines will be for them. Autoimmune diseases that create this overactive response include rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis (MS), and inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis). Immunotherapy is a treatment that can suppress, or dampen, immune responses when the immune system is “overactive,” such as with an autoimmune disease in which immune cells attack healthy tissue- or with organ transplants. He divides the causes into two major groups: those with a genetic mutation or a disease, such as HIV, that causes a loss of immune function and those who take certain medications, including immunotherapy, to treat specific diseases. There are multiple ways an individual might be immunocompromised, says David Hafler, MD, chair of Yale Neurology and professor of immunobiology at Yale School of Medicine. We talked with several Yale Medicine experts from the fields of transplant surgery, neurology, immunology, and oncology to better understand what makes someone immunocompromised. For details on recommendations and timing, including for younger age groups and for those who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, visit the CDC website. This group is also eligible to get a second booster (a fifth dose) at least four months after their first booster. This is because their immune systems don’t mount a strong response to the vaccines.ĭuring the Omicron surge, people who were boosted were 21 times less likely to die from COVID-19 and seven times less likely to be hospitalized compared to those who were unvaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).įor ages 12 and up, the CDC recommends those who are moderately or severely immunocompromised receive a primary series of three doses of an mRNA vaccine, plus one booster. Seen through a COVID-19 lens, about 3% of the population in the United States is considered moderately-to-severely immunocompromised, making them more at risk for serious illness if they contract COVID-19, even after vaccination. There isn’t one ‘immunocompromised state.’ There are many.” “The immune system is complex, and made up of many different types of immune cells that serve different functions. “There are many ways people can be immunocompromised,” says Stuart Seropian, MD, a Smilow Cancer Hospital hematologist who specializes in blood cancers. Simply put, it’s when your immune system isn’t working as well as it should to protect you from infection-or that your immune system can’t distinguish between normal and foreign cells.īut there are nuances. We know, for example, that immunocompromised individuals are more likely to have serious COVID-19 illness and a higher mortality rate than the average population. With so much attention on this one group, a question remains in the minds of many: What does it actually mean to be immunocompromised? Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been countless news reports identifying one group of individuals as being particularly vulnerable to the virus: the immunocompromised.
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