Mayo Clinic Health Manager
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By Mayo Clinic staffPemphigus isn't contagious, and there's no way to predict who'll get it. However, your risk increases if:
- You're middle-aged or older.
- You're of Mediterranean or Jewish descent.
- You have another autoimmune condition, particularly myasthenia gravis, a chronic disorder characterized by muscle weakness and fatigue, or thymoma, a tumor of the thymus. The thymus is an organ that produces white blood cells known as lymphocytes, an important part of your immune system.