Abstract
Infections with viruses of the herpes group, particularly cytomegalovirus (CMV), have been associated with a transient reversal of T-helper/T-suppressor (TH/TS) ratio. This reversal has been reported with CMV mononucleosis, immunosuppressed patients with CMV infection, and a few cases of congenital CMV. In none of these reports has the reversed TH/TS ratio been causally associated with other immune abnormalities. The reversed ratio is also a frequent finding in acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), and it is unclear as to what causal relationships may exist among the CMV infection of AIDS patients, the AIDS agent, the reversed TH/TS ratio, the other immune defects of AIDS, and the susceptibility to opportunistic infections experienced by AIDS patients. We have studied a child with congenital CMV throughout the first year of life who exhibited a persistently reversed TH/TS ratio, a lack of antibody to CMV in the IgM class, a delay in CMV-IgG antibody formation, and an unusually prolonged high titer of CMV excretion in his urine. In spite of these immunologic changes, he has not experienced opportunistic infections. This case study helps to clarify some of the above relationships.
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© 1986 Plenum Press, New York
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South, M.A., Rodriguez, W., Fuccillo, D., Nerurkar, L., Yachie, A., Sever, J.L. (1986). Immunologic Findings in a Case of Congenital CMV Compared to Infants with Aids. In: Szentivanyi, A., Friedman, H. (eds) Viruses, Immunity, and Immunodeficiency. University of South Florida International Biomedical Symposia Series. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2185-9_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2185-9_7
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
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