HOST IMMUNOLOGICAL AUGMENTATION FOR THE CONTROL OF INFECTION

The emergence of resistance to pharmacologic antimicrobial agents and the desire to increase chemotherapy dose-intensity have necessitated t he search for alternative means to control infectious disease. Enhance ment of host immunity against infection has been permitted through the use of hematopoietic growth factors, which can shorten the duration o f neutropenia and reduce the risk for bacterial and fungal infections. Hematopoietic growth factor-mobilized hematopoietic stem cells have a lso proven to be highly efficacious in permitting high-dose chemothera py. Interferons, immunoregulatory cytokines, immune globulins, and imm une lymphocytes also hold promise to enhance host immunity and reduce susceptibility for serious infectious morbidity.