OBJECTIVE: This study was undertaken to determine whether the prevalence of
anergy is higher among pregnant women than among nonpregnant women.
STUDY DESIGN: Sixty human immunodeficiency virus-seronegative women (n = 30
pregnant, n = 30 nonpregnant) from the Duke University Medical Center (Dur
ham, North Carolina) clinic were enrolled. Skin tests were performed with p
urified protein derivative of tuberculin, Candida antigen, mumps antigen, a
nd tetanus toroid. A power calculation was done to determine adequate sampl
e size, and data were analyzed with the Fisher exact test and the t test.
RESULTS: Three women in each group did not have a response to any of the an
tigens tested, for an anergy prevalence of 10%. Pregnant women were less li
kely to have a reaction to skin testing with tetanus toroid than were nonpr
egnant women (10% vs 40%; P < .02).
CONCLUSION: Human immunodeficiency virus-seronegative pregnant women did no
t appear to have a higher prevalence of anergy than that seen among compara
ble nonpregnant women. Human immunodeficiency virus-seronegative pregnant w
omen who are being evaluated with the purified protein derivative of tuberc
ulin skin test are therefore unlikely to need anergy skin testing just beca
use they are pregnant.