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Common pathogens

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

The common pathogens in asplenic patients the encapsulated bacteria:

  • Streptococcus pneumoniae
  • Haemophilus influenzae
  • Neisseria meningitidis
  • Capnocytophaga canimorsus

Asplenic patients are also more susceptible to malaria.

The increased susceptibility to encapsulated organisms is due to:

  • the ability of the spleen to clear these organisms
  • the function of the spleen as a reservoir of B lymphocytes which respond to polysaccharide antigens

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