Changes in plasma IgE levels during complicated and uncomplicated measles virus infections.

Plasma IgE levels were measured in 214 samples from 182 Peruvian patients with acute measles virus infections. Plasma IgE levels were significantly elevated early in infection compared to later time points. Plasma levels of IgG from the same patients rose during the same time period, whereas levels of IgA and IgM did not change. In patients with postmeasles encephalomyelitis, IgE remained elevated longer than it did in patients either with uncomplicated measles or measles complicated by pneumonia. It is proposed that the elevation of IgE is another manifestation of the altered immunoregulatory function in patients with measles.