If you are bothered by digestive problems, you may suffer from malabsorption of fats and certain sugars or from infection with Giardia lamblia, a small parasite. Giardia can be found in a stool sample or biopsy. Eliminating the parasites with medication may take care of your digestive symptoms. Unless you have already developed complications, you are unlikely to have any physical abnormalities. Lymhoid tissue such as tonsils and lymph glands may be small or barely identifiable.
Some patients can have an enlarged spleen and lymph nodes.
If chronic lung disease has developed, patient may have an underdeveloped chest and decreased vital capacity, i.e. the maximum amount of air you can take into the lung voluntarily. Diagnosis Common variable immunodeficiency may be suspected in children and adults who have a history of recurrent infections involving ears, sinuses, bronchi and lungs. The latter two immunoglobulin classes may be completely absent in some patients or near normal in others. Patients who have received complete immunizations against polio, measles, diphtheria and tetanus will have very low or absent antibody levels to these microorganisms. In some instances, these tests will help the physician to decide if the patient can benefit from immunoglobulin injections.