Infectious Diseases and Secondary Antibody Deficiency in Patients from a Mesoregion of São Paulo State, Brazil

Our aim was to determine the secondary antibody deficiency (SAD) profiles of patients in a mesoregion of São Paulo state, Brazil, focusing on infectious diseases. Demographic characteristics, and clinical and laboratory data were obtained from electronic files; infections were classified as organ-specific and graded as mild, moderate, life-threatening, and fatal. Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) accounted for 30% of patients, nephrotic syndrome (NS) 25%, chronic lymphocyte leukemia 20%, and multiple myeloma 15%. Patients with NS were younger than those in other groups, and hypo-γ-globulinemia was detected in 94.1%, IgG < 400 mg/dL in 60.0%, IgA < 40 mg/dL in 55.0%, and CD19 < 20 cells/mm3 in 30.0%. One hundred and one infections were found; 82.1% were classified as mild or moderate, 7.9% as life-threatening, and 3.0% as fatal. Respiratory tract infections were more prevalent (41.5%), and pneumonia accounted for 19.8%. Lower levels of infections were found in patients with NS compared with NHL (p = 0.0001). Most patients progressed to hypo-γ-globulinemia and SAD after treatment with immunosuppressants, and mild and moderate infections were predominant. These therapies are increasing in patients with different diseases; therefore, monitoring hypo-γ-globulinemia and infections may help to identify patients at high risk for severe complications, antibiotic prophylaxis or treatment, and immunoglobulin replacement.