Therapy with parent's lymphocyte transfer factor in children with infection and malnutrition.

Transfer factor (T.F.) prepared from 5 x 10(8) lymphoid cells from 500 ml of a parent's blood was given to 40 Australian aboriginal children aged 2-46 months who had been in hospital with acute infection. Many had protein-calorie malnutrition. These and a control group of 35 similar children were assessed blind for at least 12 months. In T.F.-treated children there were significantly fewer episodes of diarrhoeal disease for periods in excess of 26 weeks. Recurrent moderate diarrhoeal disease was particularly reduced, and the onset of severe gastroenteritis may have been delayed. There was no protection against chest, middle-ear, or skin infection.