Respiratory infection and primary immune deficiency – what does the general physician need to know?
This review, based on a talk given at the RCPE Respiratory Medicine
Symposium 2014, outlines the clinical spectrum of immune deficiency – antibody (B
cell) deficiency, T cell defects and innate/phagocytic disorders – and discusses the
relevant clinical presentations, investigations and treatments, focusing particularly on
the management of adults with recurrent respiratory infections. It describes when to
suspect a primary immunodeficiency, the first-line investigations to perform and the
triggers that should prompt referral for further specialist opinion. The paper