title: [Infections and aging].
abstract: Elderly people are exposed to infectious risks in ways different from younger people. These risks relate to environment, transmission routes and vectors, microbial colonisation of body surfaces and quality of host defence. Admission to a nursing home or a hospital may easily lead to colonisation with (resistant) potentially pathogenic micro-organisms, while pre-existing morbidity, medication and functional disability impair the quality of host defence, to a greater degree than the process of aging. In general, infections have a great impact on the elderly patient. Not only are infections in the elderly often serious, but they often have a deleterious effect on comorbidity and functional ability. Infections in elderly people with serious comorbidity face the physician with the dilemma how far to go with diagnostic procedures and therapy.
authors.affiliation: Leids Universitair Medisch Centrum, afd. Huisartsgeneeskunde en Verpleeghuisgeneeskunde, Leiden.
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Cools
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: van der Meer
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D017053:Infection Control / Q000379:methods; D007239:Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000451:nursing / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D019338:Polypharmacy; D012307:Risk Factors
vernacular_title: Infecties bij veroudering.