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Fifty children with IgA deficiency were folllowed for 1 to 4 years from 1975 to 1978. Thirty-five had complete deficiency of serum IgA (less than 2.5 IU/ml) and 15 partial deficiency (serum IgA below the 10th centile for age). Patients with another associated immunodeficiency, such as ataxia-telangiectasia, were not included. Most children with complete deficiency of IgA had recurrent respiratory and/or gastrointestinal infections, about half with onset in the first year of life, while partial deficiency of IgA has probably little if any importance for anti-infectious immunity but is important in the pathogenesis of atopy. Atopic diseases were frequent in both groups. Chromosomal abnormalities were found in 2 patients: trisomy 21 in one and in the other a ring chromosome 18. No important defects in cellular immunity were detected but some isolated, borderline abnormalities were often present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between the presence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and antibodies to human thyroglobulin (HTgAb) has been studied in 110 subjects with Down's syndrome (DS) from 4 months to 50 years of age and in 122 controls carefully matched for sex, age and socio-environmental conditions. The overall percentage of HBsAg carriers was 22.7 in DS and 6.6 in controls and that of HTgAb-positive subjects was 41.8 in DS and 19.7 in controls. In DS the frequency of HTgAb-positive subjects was very high, even in the youngest age groups in which the percentage of HBsAg carriers was relatively low; the latter thereafter showed a marked increase with age. A positive association between the presence of HBsAg and HTgAb was found only in the oldest age group of DS subjects. It is thus concluded that in DS the high frequency of HTgAb cannot be attributed to chronic hepatitis B virus infection. On the contrary, the presence of HTgAb might well represent an early 'marker' of immunodeficiency and increased susceptibility to infection with hepatitis B virus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IgG subclass levels were determined in 448 normal children from 6 months to 18 years of age and in 141 healthy adults by radial immunodiffusion using monoclonal antibodies. Age-normal percentile values were calculated for each year of age up to 18 years for IgG1, IgG2, IgG3 and in adults for all four subclasses. The broad spread of IgG4 values in children did not permit calculation of reference values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Serum IgG and serum and secretory IgM, IgA and IgD levels were determined in 14 children with selective IgA deficiency and in 12 age and sex matched healthy controls. IgD was determined using a highly sensitive ELISA technique. In the healthy controls serum IgG, IgA and IgM were all in the age normal range, and serum IgA was significantly higher than secretory IgA with IgA in nasal secretions being significantly higher than in saliva. In the IgA deficient children serum IgG and IgM and secretory IgM were present in higher concentrations than in the controls but the difference was statistically significant only for serum IgG and salivary IgM. IgD was detectable in the serum and secretions of all patients and all but one control subject. Like IgM, serum IgD levels were significantly higher than secretory IgD levels and IgD was present in greater concentrations in nasal secretions than in saliva both in the patients and the controls, with no difference between the two groups. Thus, the data of this study show that white serum and secretory IgM levels are elevated in children with selective IgA deficiency, serum and secretory IgD are present in normal concentrations, supporting the hypothesis of a compensatory increase in IgM but not in IgD in such patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Infection is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A case of hypertrophic osteoarthropathy is described in an 8-year-old child with late-onset agammaglobulinemia, bronchiectasis and clubbing of the fingers and toes. The child presented with pain of recent onset in the legs, ankles, and knees and a diagnosis of hypertrophic osteoarthropathy was made on the basis of the radiologic findings. Therefore the differential diagnosis of bone and joint pain in agammaglobulinemic subjects must take into account hypertrophic osteoarthropathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An 11 year old girl with retarded growth, recurrent infections, bronchiectasis, and normal serum immunoglobulin concentrations had a combined deficit of the IgG2 subclass and IgG and IgM specific antibodies. Immunoglobulin replacement was followed by clinical improvement. The importance of determining both IgG subclasses and antibody activity in patients with recurrent infections and normal serum immunoglobulin values is emphasised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Multitest skin test allows the simultaneous intradermal application of seven standardized recall antigens in a reproducible manner. Response reading is based on a scoring system that distinguishes between normal and diminished delayed hypersensitivity (DH). To determine incidence and size of DH responses for each antigen in relation to age and sex in healthy Italian children, a multicentric study was performed on a representative paediatric population of 491 subjects (285 males and 296 females) aged from 4 months to 16 years. In both sexes DH reactivity as measured by score and number of positive responses increased significantly with age. The incidence of anergy was 8.8% for the whole population and decreased significantly with age in both sexes. Incidence of positive responses was highest for tetanus and diphteria toxoids, intermediate for Candida, Proteus and Streptococcus, and lowest for tuberculin and Trichophyton antigens. There was no significant difference between sexes in the incidence of positive response to each antigen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Infection is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

We describe here an immunocompetent boy with fever, regional adenopathy, multifocal hepatosplenic granulomas, and high and increasing serum antibody titers for Bartonella henselae in whom diffuse bilateral reticulonodular pulmonary infiltrates developed in the absence of respiratory symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A history of poor growth in early childhood associated with persistent diarrhea and iron deficiency anemia led to a diagnosis of celiac disease in a 9-yr-old boy hospitalized for acute rhabdomyolysis. Elevated serum creatine kinase levels had been documented over the previous years, and Becket's muscular dystrophy was diagnosed by immunostaining of dystrophin and DNA analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]