[Detection of specific local immunity factors in children with herpetic diseases of the oral mucosa].

Specimens of mixed untreated saliva from 3 groups of children were tested for antibodies to herpes virus by the fluorescent antibody technique (33 children with acute herpes stomatitis, 64 with recurrent herpes stomatitis, and 30 in the control group). Herpes virus antibodies were found in the saliva in 27.2 +/- 7.7% of the cases at the peak of acute stomatitis and in 77.7 +/- 10.0% of cases in the period of epithelization, in 84.6 +/- 10.0% of the examined subjects the antibodies were detected 2-4 months after the disease. Examinations of 64 saliva specimens obtained from the children during one of the relapses of chronic stomatitis demonstrated antibodies more frequently (59.3 +/- 8.0%) than in children at the peak of acute stomatitis disease. A trend for increased antibody content in the saliva of children by the period of epithelization of lesions in the buccal cavity both in acute stomatitis and during relapses of chronic disease was observed. No herpes antibodies were found in saliva specimens from 30 children of the control group.