Immunization of immunocompromised persons.

Advances in medicine, science, and technology have led to increasing numbers of people in the general population with altered host defenses. The risk for clinical infection in an immunocompromised host, such as a person who has received a solid organ transplant, is determined largely by the interaction between two factors: the epidemiologic exposures the person encounters and the person's net state of immunosuppresson. Vaccination represents a crucial approach for preventing infection in the general public and immunocompromised persons. This article reviews the benefits of and risks for immunization in immunocompromised persons and provides recommendations for the use of specific vaccines.