Q. Cancer patients are at increased risk of infections as compared to normal people. Why?
A. There are many factors like-
1. Immunity of patients suffering from blood cancers and organ cancers is overall low.
2. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy given as a part of treatment further decrease the immunity and make the patient susceptible to many bacterial, viral and fungal infections.
Q. Which infections can affect the cancer patients?
A. Apart from the usual community acquired infections, rare organisms like nocardia; fungi like aspergillus, mucor, cryptococcusetc ; viruses like cytomegalovirus can infect these patients.
Q. Are these infections treatable?
A. Yes, if the infections are diagnosed on time and treatment started early, these infections can be cured. Expert advice is very important.
Q. What are the important facts while dealing with infections in cancer patients?
1. Patients with serious bacterial infections and sepsis need emergent treatment with proper antibiotics, which can save the life.
2. In patients with rare fungal/bacterial/viral infections, every possible attempt should be made to diagnose the exact infectious organism (bug) at the earliest with the help of scopy (bronchoscopy in case of lung infection), biopsy, cultures. Empirical treatment may lead to failure.
3. Continuation/temporary discontinuation of chemotherapy depends on the type of infection and this decision needs the expert advice of the oncologist and the infectious diseases consultant.
4. Some serious infections may need very long duration of treatment, especially when chemotherapy is going on.
