Text Box: SERIAL SERUM LEVELS OF STNFRs IN CHILDREN WITH CRITICAL INFECTION Zhang LE, Zan JY, Children’s Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China To evaluate the value of soluble tumor necrosis factor recepters (STNFRs) for diagnosing and predicting the infection disease. It was observed the serial serum levels of STNFRs in children with critical infection. It included 16 children with severe bactirial infection, 15 children with virus nephcephy and 17 children with mild bactirial infection. Serum STNFRs were serially measured at admission, 48 hours later and 7 to 10 days after admission by ELISA, and the volues were compared with normal volues. The levels of STNFRs of severe bacterial infection group was higher than mild infection group and virus infection, and significantly higher than the normal volues, persistently elevating for 7 to 10 days. According to stepwise regression analysis, it was observated that STNFRs was related to renal function, WBC or PH, predicting was related to STNFR I. STNFR I is a useful marker in children for diagnosing and predicting the prognosis of severe bactirial infection. 1887