Gender, age and seasonal effects on IgA deficiency: a study of 7293 Caucasians.

Background: The frequency of serum IgA deficiency (SIgAD) differs between populations. We examined the prevalence of SIgAD in healthy Caucasians.

Materials And Methods: Serum immunoglobulin A (SIgA) was measured in 7293 volunteers (2264 women, 5029 men) aged 30 +/- 14.

Chronic poisoning by copper in tap water: I. Copper intoxications with predominantly gastointestinal symptoms.

Copper can induce acute and chronic intoxications in humans. Copper in tap water has caused a series of severe systemic diseases in Germany in recent years (copper induced liver cirrhosis). Besides cirrhosis, another type of disease with predominantly gastrointestinal symptoms has occurred which likewise appeared to be induced by copper in tap water.

Autosomal dominant familial Mediterranean fever--like syndrome.

Unlabelled: We report a syndrome characterized by recurrent episodes of fever and serositis in an Austrian family. Three family members over two successive generations were affected. The febrile episodes had their onset at the age of 11-12 years, lasted 1-5 weeks, and occurred in intervals of 6-24 months.

[Hereditary fructose intolerance].

The paper gives an overview of current diagnostic procedures in patients with clinical suspicion of hereditary fructose intolerance. On the basis of the literature and of a 9 years' experience at the Department of Paediatrics of the University of Graz a different approach according to the clinical condition of the patients is proposed (good clinical condition, severe liver disease, or bad clinical condition--i.e.