title: Infectious pathogens in pediatric patients with primary immunodeficiencies.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Primary immunodeficiency diseases (PIDs) are rare disorders. Unusual infections often guide the initial investigation for immunodeficiency.
  
  
  METHODS
  In order to ascertain the organisms that lead to a predisposition for PIDs, we reviewed the charts of 92 children diagnosed with PIDs at the National Taiwan University Hospital between March 1984 and March 2004.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Pneumonia was diagnosed in 92%, 81%, and 76.5% of patients with antibody, combined, and cellular deficiencies, respectively. Other major illnesses were similar in the 3 groups and included bronchiolitis, acute gastroenteritis, otitis media, and bacteremia. Skin abscess, pneumonia, and lymphadenitis (54.5%, 45%, and 27% of cases, respectively) were the most common infections in patients with phagocyte defects. Organisms were speciated in only 44.8% of infection episodes. Most viral infections were diagnosed by traditional and time-consuming viral culture. Prophylactic antibiotics were prescribed to 9 out of the 92 patients with PIDs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Early recognition of PIDs requires that practitioners be aware of the infection characteristics, and subsequent reliable and rapid molecular diagnosis are needed in such immunocompromised patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shu-Hua
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Yao-Hsu
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Bor-Luen
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Chiang
mesh_terms: D015984:Causality; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000382:microbiology; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D007153:Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D010586:Phagocytes / Q000473:pathology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology