Immunological aspects of staphylococcal skin infection.

Patients with staphylococcal infection of the skin were examined for immunological status. All cases examined in the present study had gamma-globulin levels within the normal range. The proliferative response of peripheral blood lymphocytes to staphylococcal antigen was significantly depressed in patients with furunculosis as compared with that in patients with common furuncle or in healthy controls. All patients with furunculosis showed higher titers of anti-Staphylococcus aureus antibody than did those with furuncle. The dissociation between cellular and humoral immunity in furunculosis seems to be explained in terms of immune deviation.