ABSTRACT
Delayed hypersensitivity skin test are widely accepted as in vivo measure of cellular immunity. Since genetic and environmental factors may affect these tests, each population must establish its own normal values. The aim of this work was to study delayed hypersensitivity in chilean normal young adults. We studied the response to 8 antigens using the Multitest CMI (Rhodia Merieux) in 50 students (22 females, 28 males), aged 18 to 25 years old. Skin tests were read at 24, 48 and 72 hours. At 48 h, 60 percent of women responded to 3 and 68 percent of men to 4 antigens. A mean response to 3.6 antigens was observed. Total score in men and women were 19.5ñ7.3 and 12.2ñ6.5 mm respectively (p<0.05). These figures are different from these published abroad and confirm the need for national standards