| Abstract: | IgA-antibodies to pneumococcal antigens were measured by enzyme immunoassay in saliva and nasal washings, obtained from 32 children aged 6 months to 14 years with acute pneumonia and from 25 healthy children aged 2.5-11 years. In the secretions of children with acute pneumonia an essential increase in the levels of IgA-antibodies in comparison with those observed in healthy children was detected. The levels of antibodies to pneumococci in saliva and in nasal washings were in direct correlation. These data are indicative of a protective role played, probably, by secretory antibodies at the portals of infection in pneumococcal pneumonia. |
