agammaglobulinemia

(ā″gam″ă-glob″yŭ-lĭ-nē′mē-ă)

To hear audio pronunciation of this topic, purchase a subscription or log in.

[1an- + gamma globulin + -emia]
Any of the disorders marked by an almost complete lack of immunoglobulins or antibodies. Agammaglobulinemias are caused by abnormal B lymphocyte function; they cause severe immunodeficiencies, with recurrent infections. Treatments include immunoglobulins, antibiotics, and bone marrow transplantation.
Descriptive text is not available for this image Immunization with oral poliovirus vaccine and yellow fever vaccine are both contraindicated in agammaglobulinemia.

There's more to see -- the rest of this topic is available only to subscribers.