title: Immunological studies in haemophilic children.
abstract: A majority of haemophiliacs who have received large-pool plasma products within the past 5 years have been exposed to the putative agent of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)--HIV. It is not known what the risk of infection is among patients in South Africa. A study was made of 39 children with congenital coagulation disorders attending the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital Haemophilia Clinic. All but 3 had been treated exclusively with small-pool lyophilised cryoprecipitate or a factor IX concentrate prepared by local blood transfusion services. Three patients had also received imported non-heat-treated commercial products FEIBA (Immuno), Autoplex, Proplex (Hyland) or Factorate (Armour). Absolute lymphocyte counts were normal in all patients but the OKT4/OKT8 ratio was reduced below 1.0 in 9 children including 2 of the 3 who had received commercial plasma concentrates. A high titre of HIV antibody was present in 2 of the 38 patients tested. Both of these children had received imported plasma concentrates and 1 shows some features of the AIDS-related complex. These results suggest that haemophiliacs who receive non-heat-treated commercial concentrates may be at greater risk of HIV infection than patients treated with locally produced plasma products.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006678:HIV / Q000276:immunology; D015483:HIV Antibodies; D006467:Hemophilia A / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000145:classification; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic; D006377:T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D015483:HIV Antibodies