[Specific class M immunoglobulins in viral hepatitis A patients (their diagnostic and prognostic significance)]

The study included 119 children and 138 adults suffering from viral hepatitis A. The controls consisted of 114 adult patients with hepatitis B. Examinations of the total antibody to hepatitis. A virus revealed a rise in titres from 1 : 450 in the first days of the disease to 1 : 4 400 in the convalescent period. In the acute period the antibodies were represented by immunoglobulins M which circulate in the blood up to 4-5 months of convalescence. At 3-4 weeks after the onset of the disease, synthesis of immunoglobulins G begins which are anamnestic antibodies. The importance of specific immunoglobulins M in virus elimination from the host and their role in the early diagnosis of the disease have been demonstrated.