I’ve always had the idea that the recipient of an organ transplant takes immuno-supressive medication to prevent his or her own immune system from attacking the transplanted tissue. If this is correct, does the immunosupressive medication continue for the rest of the patient’s life? Or does the immune system eventually “adapt” to the organ?
No, they have to take the drugs for the rest of their lives.
I see. Are the drugs specific enough to protect the organ but not interfere with bacterial/viral immune response, or is a transplant recipient more susceptible to all diseases?
I quote the following from the forums of www.thebody.com
So it seems that the drugs designed to prevent rejection will also increase risk of infections.
Yes, they’re definitely on immunosuppressants for life, and they do have somewhat lower defences against bacteria and viruses because of it. How big the ‘somewhat’ is varies with how much of a dose they need to keep them from rejecting the organ. This is one of the major reasons doctors have been so hesitant to do transplants of life-enhancing but not necessary-for-life things like hands, since it means that for the rest of his or her life, the person will be taking powerful drugs and be significantly more susceptible to infections.