The Child Who Has Many Infections

     When a child has multiple infections and is placed on antibiotics often, it is common for parents to be concerned that there might be something wrong with the child’s immune system. Some normal children have ear infections, sinus infections and even pneumonia in the first few years of life, although children who have recurrent cough and congestion often have asthma or allergies as the cause of their recurrent cough. But the possibility of a child having something wrong his immune system is often a concern in the parent’s mind.

     For decades, doctors considered 10 warning signs that might suggest a child has an immune deficiency. Those ten signs are: more than 4 ear infections in a year; 2 serious sinus infections in a year; 2 months of oral antibiotics without curing the symptoms; 2 episodes of pneumonia in a year; poor weight gain and growth; recurrent skin abscesses; repeated fungal infections in the mouth or on the skin; an infection that needs intravenous antibiotics; 2 severe infections such as an infection of the blood called septicemia; having a history of immune problems in the family.

     A study published in Pediatrics in May of 2011 looked at children with immune system problems and found that the most important of these warning signs were these three:

1.     Having a severe infection which required intravenous antibiotics

2.     Poor weight gain and growth

3.     Having a history of immune problems in the family. 

     About 90% of children with an immune deficiency were identified by having at least one of these three signs. If a child has any one of these three signs, the child should be looked at closely to determine if an immune system problem is present.