Diphtheria Vaccine Immunity in Patients with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

malities in immune function and presumed increased morbidity and mortality from infections. The aim of this study was to compare the diph-theria antitoxin levels in immunized children with Type 1 DM and healthy children. Methods: Diphtheria antitoxin levels were measured in serum samples of 40 patients and 40 age and sex matched healthy subjects. Results: Overall, 23 % (9/40) of the patients and 25 % (11/40) of healthy con-trols had insufficient immunity against diphtheria. There was no statistical significant difference for diphtheria antibody levels between patients and controls (X2=0.267, p=0.797). Conclusion: Our results indicate that the impairment of the immune re-sponse in Type 1 DM patients could be antigen specific and not a general event, and require further investigation in a larger study. Key Words: Type 1 diabetes mellitus, diphtheria antitoxin, vaccine Amaç: Tip 1 diyabetes mellituslu (DM) hastaların immun sistemlerinde bozukluklar olabilir ve enfeksiyonlardan kaynaklanan morbidite ve mor-talite artmıştır. Bu çalışmanın amacı difteriye karşı aşılandığı bilinen tip 1 DM’lu ve sağlıklı çocuklarda difteri antitoksin düzeylerini ölçerek antikor oluşturma yeteneklerini karşılaştırmaktır. Yöntemler: Difteri antitoksin düzeyleri 40 hasta ile yaş ve cins bakımında eş olan 40 sağlıklı çocuğun serum örneklerinde ölçüldü