Prophylactic Antibodies in Hodgkin's Disease

To the Editor: The recent article by Weitzman et al. concerning impaired humoral immunity in Hodgkin's disease (N Engl J Med 297:245–248, 1977), was interesting and enlightening. On the basis of their data, what would the authors recommend in terms of prophylactic antibiotics for splenectomized adults with treated Hodgkin's disease? Would they also recommend such prophylaxis for unsplenectomized patients treated with combined chemotherapy and radiotherapy? Would they not treat patients who received only radiotherapy? Perhaps many people would appreciate their comments.