What Is the Meaning of Concomitant Illness?
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About Concomitant Illness
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Concomitant illness is the name given to the second illness that attacks when a person is already suffering from another primary sickness. For example, someone could have the flu and be experiencing all the uncomfortable and painful effects of that and develop pneumonia or a sinus infection on top of it. Both illnesses present their own set of symptoms and both must be treated, whether separately or individually.
Causes
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There are two basic causes of concomitant illness. One is immunosuppression, which means that the immune system has become exhausted from fighting off the first illness and is too weak to fend off a second attack. The second cause is a bacterial Infection, which means that the body has been exposed to a second infection stemming from the first one. For example, someone suffering from a bacterial throat infection could also get pneumonia as a result of the first infection.
Outcome of Immunosuppression
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Patients who undergo chemotherapy for cancer are often susceptible to concomitant illnesses ranging from minor colds to pneumonia or kidney infection because their immune system is so weakened from the chemo. Patients who receive organ transplants are often given immunosuppressant drugs to deliberately shut down the immune system to prevent the body from rejecting the new organ, and this often causes a second illness or infection within the body.
Treatment
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Concomitant illnesses can be treated either separately from the initial illness because they are a different infection, or with similar treatment because they are a result of the original infection. A person suffering with pneumonia and who develops kidney infection resulting from a weakened immune system would have two separate treatments. However, someone suffering from a severe throat infection who develops an ear infection may be given the same treatment if both are a result of the same bacterial virus.
Prevention
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Concomitant illnesses cannot all be prevented since some are caused from a weakened immune system resulting from the primary illness or from the drugs administered during treatment. However, it is possible for a patient to prevent a secondary bacterial infection if she visits the doctor immediately when the initial infection begins. The medication for the first illness would likely prevent it from developing into a secondary or concomitant infection. But this is not always the case since there are so many variations of bacterial infections that could result from the first one and that won’t react to the treatment for the primary infection. The best possible method of defense is to go to the doctor at the first sign of illness.
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