TRANSFER FACTOR FOR THE PREVENTION OF VARICELLAZOSTER INFECTION IN CHILDHOOD LEUKEMIA

Herpes group viruses are pathogens which cause significant morbidity and mortality in the host who has compromised cellular immune function. Preliminary studies, employing non-human primates and herpes simplex virus type 1 challenge, demonstrated the ability of human dialyzable transfer factor (TFd) to protect against fatal viral infection. The present studies were designed to evaluate possible efficacy of specific human TFd in preventing or attenuating varicella-zoster (VZ) infection, usually chicken pox, in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).