Prediction of the Risk of Pneumonia Development in Children with High Incidence of Acute Respiratory Infections

The research work is related to the development of a method of prediction of pneumonia development risk in children with high incidence of acute respiratory infections (ARI) by studying the immune status indices, namely the determination interleukin (IL) -2, -4 levels in serum, the correlation between IL-2/ IL-4 and β2-microglobulin concentration (β2-MG). Materials and methods. The study involved 100 children at the age of 3 to 8 with high incidence of acute respiratory infections. Pneumonia on the background of acute respiratory diseases was diagnosed in 60 children. This complication did not develop in 40 children. Contents of IL-2in blood serum, correlation between IL-4, IL- 2 / IL-4 levels and β2-MG concentration were determined in all the patients. Results. on the 1-2 day of illness indicators of serum concentrations of IL-2 below 220 pg / ml were recorded in (81.67 ± 5.0)% of children, IL-4 above 10 pg / ml were observed in (86.6 ± 4.39)% of children, the ratio of IL-2 / IL-4 below 20 was stated in (81.67 ± 5.0)% of children and reduction of the amount of β2-MG below 3.0 pg / ml was recorded in (85.0 ± 4.61)% of children with ARI complicated by pneumonia. Conclusions. Insufficient activation of Th1 component of immune system was accompanied by a reduction IL-2 / IL-4 correlation and indicated the dominance of Th2-type of immune response. This was evidenced by the decrease of IL-2 level in case of enhanced IL-4secretion. Insufficient cellular immune response, reduction of β2-MG level being the marker of immunosuppression led to pneumonia in children with high incidence of ARI. Such a little number of immunological testsas the correlation between IL-2 / IL-4 and IL-2, IL-4 and β2-MG levels is quite informative for prediction of the pneumonia risk.