Dissociated impairment of neutrophil functions and recurrent infections

This report concerns the study of a 43-year-old woman with a four-year history of recurrent infection caused primarily by staphylococci. The patient was treated with various antibiotic combinations without long-term success. We found phagocytosis, directed migration and the capacity to kill Staphylococcus aureus to be impaired; the capacity to adhere to nylon fibre was normal, the non-quantitative NBT reduction test was unaffected and we were unable to detect any humoral abnormality (e.g. in complement or immunoglobulins). The dissociated impairment of neutrophil functions was clearly improved by levamisole.