Serum antistaphylococcal alpha-haemolysin titres in cystic fibrosis.

The presence of coagulase-positive staphylococci in the pulmonary tract of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) has been well established (Huang, Van Loon, and Sheng, 1961; Iacocca, Sibinga, and Barbero, 1963). Investigators (Halbert, di Sant' Agnese, and Kotek, 1960; Gladstone et al., 1962; Mudd et al., 1962; Quie and Wannamaker, 1964) have demonstrated serum antibodies to the microbial organisms commonly found in the tracheobronchial secretions of CF patients. This is a study of the anti-ochaemolysin (AAH) response in patients with CF to the chronic staphylococcal infection of t'1eir lungs.