Weak immune system (immunosuppression) Pēhanga pūnaha awhikiri

The immune system includes your:

• skin
• lymphatic system (which is made up of your lymph glands, Peyer's patches, thymus and spleen)
• white blood cells (which are made in your bone marrow).

Each part of your immune system has a different role. Some parts stop germs entering your body. Examples of this are your skin acting as a barrier and your stomach acid killing germs from your food.

If germs do get into your body, other parts of your immune system, such as your white blood cells, will fight against them.

People can have weak immune systems for many reasons.

• Newborn babies have immature immune systems in their first few weeks of life.
• As a normal part of ageing your immune system gets weaker.
• Some conditions cause a weak immune system, such as diabetes, certain cancers (lymphoma, leukaemia and myeloma) and HIV.
• Some medicines, known as immunosuppressants, suppress the immune system. These are needed if you have had an organ transplant, or if you have a condition where the body attacks its own cells (autoimmune conditions), such as rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and psoriasis.
• A weak immune system can also be an unwanted side effect of a medicine. For example, chemotherapy fights cancer, but it also weakens your immune system.

Your immune system may recover, depending on what is causing it to be weakened. 

• If you are taking chemotherapy to treat a cancer, your immune system will gradually recover in the weeks after you finish chemotherapy.
• If you need to take an immune-suppressing medicine for life, you will always have to be aware of the increased risk of infection.

Having a weakened immune system increases your risk of infection from:

• bacteria
• viruses
• fungi.

You are also more likely to get very unwell quickly.

Seek medical advice as soon as possible if you:

• start to feel unwell with a fever, sore throat or cough
• are passing wee (urine) more often
• have runny poos (diarrhoea)
• are throwing up (vomiting).

Skin cancer risk

If you are immunosuppressed, you are more likely to get skin cancers. If you get a skin cancer, it can grow faster and is more likely to spread. Reduce your risk by:

• limiting harmful sun exposure
• getting regular checks to help with early detection and removal.

If you are having an organ transplant, have a skin check by a skin specialist (dermatologist), then regular skin checks from your healthcare provider.

Melanoma

Non-melanoma skin cancer

You do not need to stay indoors and avoid contact with other people, but you do need to avoid anyone who is unwell with:

• a sore throat or cough
• runny poos (diarrhoea)
• throwing up (vomiting)
• chickenpox or shingles.

You should also be very thorough in washing and drying your hands to avoid germs.

There is no special diet you need to follow but if food is handled incorrectly, you may get sick. You can reduce your risk of getting sick by:

• selecting safe foods and avoiding high risk foods
• following food safety guidelines when preparing, cooking and storing food.

The Ministry for Primary Industries has produced a guide to what is safe to eat and what you should avoid.

Food for people with low immunity — Ministry for Primary Industriesexternal link

Immunisations

When you have a weak immune system, some vaccines are safe for you, and some are not.

The flu vaccine is safe and can help to protect you from getting the flu while your immune system is weak.

Immunisations that can make you unwell are the live vaccines:

• measles, mumps and rubella (MMR)
• oral polio
• yellow fever
• BCG (for tuberculosis)
• chickenpox and shingles vaccines.

Discuss with your healthcare provider if they are safe for you before having them.

Tamariki in your whānau should continue to get their usual immunisations. This will help to protect you and your whānau from infections.

Vaccines given in Aotearoa