[Immune system function in candidiasis patients]

To compare the clinical picture and the immunological characteristics, 58 candidiasis patients differing by the severity and dissemination of the disease were examined. Chronic candidiasis of the skin and mucous membranes, the most severe and disseminated form of the disease, is associated with a decrease in the number of T-lymphocytes and changes in their subpopulations, as well as high titers of Candida albicans antigen and antibodies to it in blood sera. The immune system of patients with visceral candidiasis and chronic vulvovaginal candidiasis was similar to that of healthy persons in the characteristics under study. Immediate and mixed hypersensitivity occurred in candidiasis patients more frequently than in healthy persons. In extremely severe forms of Candida infection immediate hypersensitivity prevailed.