What It Means to Have an Immunodeficiency Diagnosis

What It Means to Have an Immunodeficiency Diagnosis

Having an immunodeficiency diagnosis during a pandemic is one of the scariest things that people can go through today. If your body isn’t able to adequately fend off infection, it isn’t going to stand up well to a virus that infects people at an astounding rate. When you have an immunodeficiency disorder, you have to be more careful than the average person to avoid illness.

immunodeficiency diagnosis

However, that doesn’t mean that you have to hide in your home indefinitely, afraid to come into contact with anything that could make you ill. In reality, there are a lot of measures you can take to keep yourself safe during the pandemic and beyond. Here are some things you might experience if you are immunodeficient.

You’ll get sick more often.

Being immunodeficient means that you can’t fight off viral infections like the flu, the common cold, and, yes, COVID-19. It also means that certain disease-causing bacteria can also be more prevalent, and your body may not be able to protect you against those either. This means that you can also easily get contagious bacterial infections, like pink eye. 

It will be harder to treat your illness.

Your doctors will have a much harder time treating you if you do become ill. Because your immune system can’t fight off the infection, the doctors will have to take other measures to isolate and fight the illness. Often, people who have advanced immunodeficiency need to be hospitalized for illnesses that would only make a healthy person take a day off.

Medications and precautions can allow you to lead a normal life.

Being immunodeficient doesn’t mean the end of your active lifestyle. In fact, you can enjoy the same activities you once did, even if it means that you are in very public places. Actually, this is where the pandemic is a bit helpful — keeping your distance from others is a great way to avoid infection when you are immunocompromised.

If you need assistance coping with an immunodeficiency or if you believe you are immunocompromised but do not yet have a diagnosis, contact us today for testing and examination.