[Blood lymphocyte and neutrophil function in patients with viral non-A, non-B hepatitis and a fecal-oral mechanism of the transmission of infection].

A decrease in the capacity of lymphocytes for rosette formation, accompanied by a rise in the leukocyte count, has been found in patients with the severe form of hepatitis non A, non B. Neutrophils in these patients have shown a tendency towards an increased rosette formation. All altered characteristics normalized by the period of convalescence. As noted in this investigation, a considerable increase in the leukocyte count, along with an increase in the number of active rosette-forming neutrophils and a decrease in the capacity of leukocytes for rosette formation, is an unfavorable sign predicting the possibility of acute hepatic encephalopathy.