According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI), children who are frequently prone to infections (ear infections, sinusitis and pneumonia) may actually be suffering from immunodeficiency.

Immunodeficient patients often have infections that don't go away without antibiotics and then come back 1-2 weeks after completion of the antibiotics; these individuals often need many courses of antibiotics per year.

Here are some of the guidelines that allergist/immunologists use to determine if a patient could be experiencing too many:

• The need for more than four courses of antibiotic treatment per year in children or more than two times per year in adults
• The occurrence of more than four new ear infections in one year after four years of age
• The development of pneumonia twice over any time
• The occurrence of more than three episodes of bacterial sinusitis in one year or the occurrence of chronic sinusitis
• The need for preventive antibiotics to decrease the number of infections
• Any unusually severe infection or infections caused by bacteria that do not usually cause problems in most people at the patient's age

If your child has any of the above conditions, it will be good to find and consult an allergist/immunologist.

To find one in you area or to learn more about allergies and asthma, you may call the AAAAI's Physician Referral and Information Line at (800) 822-2762 or visit the AAAAI Web site.

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