RESUMO
IgA levels are considered as one of the most important determinant of immunity in children and undernutrition may result in deviated IgA levels due to repetitive infection resulting in acute respiratory infections (ARI) and diarrhoea. Hence, the study was undertaken to determine serum IgA levels of 80 undernourished and 30 nourished children using Immunoturbidimetric assay and correlate with their nutritional and morbidity status. Due to the known variability of immunoglobulin levels, subjects were divided into three groups based on their age range i.e. 5-7; 7-10 and 10-12 years. Results indicated that mean IgA levels of undernourished children were 110.89±37.78 mg/dl 131.81±43.43 mg/dl and 168.00±64.75 mg/dl for age group 5-7; 7-10 and 10-12 years respectively. Mean diarrhoeal episodes were reported to be 0.53±1.20; 0.82±1.14 and 1.17±1.26 and mean episodes of acute respiratory infection (ARI) in past one month were 2.21±1.89; 1.43±1.47 and 1.83±1.19 for above mentioned age range. The mean serum IgA level of undernourished children between 5-10 years and 7-10 years were higher than the healthy children, although this difference was not statistically significant. A significant positive correlation was seen between undernutrition status and serum IgA levels of 10-12 years of school children.