The immunocompromised host.

Infection still remains the most common immediate cause of death in the immunocompromised host. Because of the decreased host defenses leading not only to an increased susceptibility to a variety of opportunistic pathogens (in particular the fungi) but also to a decreased host inflammatory response and resultant clinical findings, infections in these patients are difficult to diagnose. Skin lesions occur in up to a third of infections in compromised hosts and can often be the first presentation of a systemic illness. The broad scope of dermatologic manifestations of infection in compromised patients is reviewed based on four presumed underlying pathophysiologic mechanisms and on the vast array of potential pathogens that have been reported to date in the literature.