Symposium on infections in the compromised host: The extremities of age: the newborn and the elderly.
The newborn and the elderly are at increased risk for infection because their immune defenses are suppressed as a result of age and institutionalization. The elderly person has the additional likelihood that chronic illness and debility will lead to infection, whereas the newborn has an increased chance of exposure to infectious agents from the mother and the environment.
D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D000917:Antibody Formation; D002908:Chronic Disease; D006801:Humans; D007121:Immunocompetence; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007232:Infant, Newborn, Diseases / Q000276:immunology*; D007239:Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D007326:Institutionalization; D012306:Risk; D012867:Skin / Q000382:microbiology