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Viral Antibody Levels and Clinical Status in Acute Exacerbations of Chronic Bronchitis: a Controlled Prospective Study

Br Med J 1968; 3 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.3.5613.287 (Published 03 August 1968) Cite this as: Br Med J 1968;3:287
  1. A. C. Stenhouse

    Abstract

    A controlled prospective study was made of a group of patients with chronic bronchitis, in which serum antibodies against a group of viruses and Mycoplasma pneumoniae were estimated at regular intervals. Sixteen significant rises in antibody titre were shown, of which eight were associated with clinical acute exacerbations of bronchitis. In individual patients no correlation was found between the number of acute exacerbations or the aetiological agent and persistent change in ventilatory function as expressed by the F.E.V.0.75.

    This study was compared with the results of a previous parallel investigation of the same patients done to study the significance of rhinovirus infections. In the present investigation 12% of the acute exacerbations were associated with the 11 agents tested compared with 14% associated with rhinoviruses in the earlier work.

    Footnotes

    • * This study is included in material to be presented in a thesis as partial fulfilment of the M.D. degree of the University of Otago, New Zealand.