Microflora analysis of a child with severe combined immune deficiency
The paper presents a microflora analysis of a 5-year-old male child with severe combined immune deficiency who was delivered by Caesarean section and continuously maintained in an isolator. Despite precautions, it was found that the child had come in contact with at least 54 different microbial contaminants. While his skin autoflora was similar to that of a reference group of healthy male adults in numbers of different species and the number of viable cells present per square centimeter of surface area, the subject's autoflora differed from the reference group in that significantly fewer anaerobic species were recovered from the patient's mouth and feces. It is suggested that the child's remaining disease free shows that the reported bacteria are noninvasive or that the unaffected components of the child's immune defense mechanisms are important.