Not every child who falls sick frequently has an immune problem - children in daycare and school settings normally have 6 to 8 respiratory infections per year as their immune system encounters new viruses. The pattern that warrants immune evaluation is different: more than 8 significant infections per year, two or more episodes of pneumonia in a single year, infections that are unusually severe, prolonged, or require intravenous antibiotics to clear, infections with organisms that normally only cause serious disease in immunocompromised individuals, or a family history of primary immunodeficiency. If your child's pattern of illness fits any of these descriptions, a consultation with a paediatric allergy and immunology specialist for structured immune evaluation is the appropriate next step.
Written by Dr. Prasad Muley, MBBS, MD, FAAAI (Fellow of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology), Consultant Paediatrician and Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Specialist, Gujarat. Phone: +91 9879609195.
