Deep actinomycosis in childhood.

Visceral actinomycosis is extremely rare in childhood. Two cases of visceral actinomycosis in children are described, and the importance of accurate mycological diagnosis and early treatment emphasized. The outcome in one case would very probably have been fatal had the diagnosis not been considered promptly, and in the other the child would have received ineffective chemotherapy. A new observation is the presence of a defective immune response during the acute infection which returns to normal during convalescence.