Immunological characiteristics of 19 death cases from severe acute respiratory syndrome

  Objective   To summarize the immunological characteristics of death cases from severe acute respiratory syndrome(SARS).

  Methods   the basic clinical characteristics of SARS death cases were analyzed.At the same time, the absolute numbers of Tlymphocyte and its subgroups, NK and B cells of 37 serum samples from 19 SARS cases were counted with the flow cytometry and compared with the normal control and the HIV groups.

  Results   the absolute numbers of lymphocytes, T, T4 and T8 lymphocytes decreased significantly(P < 0.001), as compared with those of the HIV and the normal control groups.The minimum values of the four items were 85, 38, 26 and 14 cells/mm³, respectively.The ratio of T4 to T8 lymphocytes of the SARS group was hig her than that of the HIV group(P < 0.001).There was no significant difference between SARS patients and normal controls.The NK and B cells of the SARS group declined significantly, with the minimum counts of 2 and 17 cells/mm³, respectively.

  Conclusion   the function of humoral and cellular immunity of SARS death cases was significantly low.The detection of absolute counts of Tlymphocytes and its subgroup, B and NK cells were useful for the judgement of severity and prognosis of the disease.It may be used as a supplementary diagnosis method in the early stage of SARS.