Abstract
The level of the serum alkaline phosphatase showed a better correlation with the age of the patient than with the severity of the illness in a series of 222 patients suffering from infective hepatitis seen in general practice and in hospital. Possible reasons for this are discussed and it is suggested that this test is of practical diagnostic value to the general practitioner when he is faced with the problem of a vague gastro-intestinal illness in a child. Parallel estimations of the 5′ nucleotidase appears to be of value in the interpretation of the results in such patients. Alkaline phosphatase assay might also be of use in epidemiological investigations of this disease.
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