Alterations in immune responsiveness in acute measles and chronic post-measles chest disease.
Immune responses in 24 children with acute measles (AM) were compared with those in 20 children who had chronic pulmonary complications (CPMC) following measles. The immuno-suppressive effects of acute measles were extensive: total white cells were reduced and this reduction was accounted for entirely by lymphopenia which was equally expressed among the major lymphocyte sub-populations studied; the function of 'T' cells, assessed by radio-isotope incorporation into phytohaemagglutin (PHA) transformed lymphocytes and delayed skin hypersensitivity (DHR) to dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB), was depressed. Serum IgA was reduced in AM patients. In contrast there was a relative sparing of the measured indices of immunity in patients with chronic post-measles chest disease, with the major defect being an impaired DHR to DNCB. There were minor alterations of complement components in both groups of patients.
D000208:Acute Disease; D000917:Antibody Formation; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D008457:Measles / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology*; D012217:Rheumatoid Factor / Q000032:analysis
D012217:Rheumatoid Factor