Immunocompetence of children with frequent respiratory infections.

Influenza A virus: radiological and clinical findings of patients hospitalised for pandemic H1N1 influenza

“…È stato ipotizzato che gli individui anziani siano dotati di anticorpi neutralizzanti cross-reattivi verso il virus H1N1 [20]. La più alta incidenza nelle fasce di età inferiori ai 18 anni potrebbe essere legata, invece, in particolar modo nei bambini, a meccanismi di immunodefi cienza e/o di immaturità immunologica [21,22].…”

The Immunocompetence of Children with Congenital Heart Disease

“…One would expect less than 5% of any population to have levels below 2 SDs from the mean [20,21], Yet approximately one-quarter of these children had IgG below 2 SD of normal for their age, one-fifth had low IgA, one-third had low C3 and onehalf had low C4. Thus, these findings support the view that children with congenital heart disease clus ter at the lower end of the immunocompetence spec trum.…”

Upper airway infections in preschool children-frequency and risk factors

“…There seems to be a genetically determined difference in the immune process between children, since some children contract f q u e n t episodes of URTI while others contract relatively few (7,8). In spite of great progress in immunology, no method has yet been found to select children with immature or slowly maturing immunity (9). Also, some families seem to be more vulnerable than others to diseases, both infections and other types of disease (1,lO).…”