The Treatment of Infectious Asthma in Children with Gamma Globulin: A Double Blind Controlled Study

摘要

Five decades ago, the management of children with repetitive upper respiratory infections causing acute wheezing was a nuisance as much as it is today. In an effort to tackle this, physicians usually prescribed multiple doses of antibiotics for long periods. Ten years earlier, in 1952, Bruton1 reported the successful administration of immuno-globulin to a child with "undetectable serum gamma-globulin levels" and recurrent pneumococcal infections. This opened a window of opportunity for the immunoglobulins to improve a common complaint often seen in pediatricians' practices. Fontana et al were among those few who evaluated the use of parenteral gamma-globulins for reducing acute episodes of wheezing in children with asthma, presumably due to recurrent respiratory infections.