Fatal disseminated adenovirus 11 pneumonia in an agammaglobulinemic patient.

Adenovirus type 11, an organism not previously associated with pneumonia, caused the death of a patient with infantile x-linked agammaglobulinemia who had normal cell-mediated immunity. Despite long-standing, regular therapy with immune globulin, his serum lacked neutralizing antibody to the virus. This case confronts the conventional view that viral infections are primarily resisted by cellular immune reactions and reemphasizes the importance of antibody in the host defense against adenoviruses. It further demonstrates the continued vulnerability of such patients to certain pathogens in the presence of presumably adequate standard-dose passive immunization.