[The influence of chronic relapsing infections of the air passages on the subpopulations of peripheral blood lymphocytes in children with atopic diseases (author's transl)].

In 68 children with atopic diseases and 42 controls of the same age, the authors conducted lymphocyte differentiation examinations. The T-lymphocytes were determined by means of the E-rosette technique, whereas the B-cell counts were determined via monospecific fluorescein-marked anti-immunoglobulin sera. The entire group of juvenile atopics was separated into one group with massed infections and another group without susceptibility to infection. The group of children without susceptibility to infection concomitant with existing atopy, showed significantly relative T-lymphocyte counts, compared with the control group, the relative and absolute counts of the other lymphocyte subpopulation being normal. In the group of juvenile atopics with a pronounced tendency to infection, the T-cell deficiency and normal absolute T-lymphocyte counts are even more conspicuous, whereas the B-cell and O-cell counts are higher than with the control group. It is possible to identify the influence of chronic relapsing infections on the lymphocyte subpopulation in atopics. The article discusses the problem of the type of cellular immunodefect in atopic children without previous history of an infection.