Oral Vaccine said to Reduce Exacerbations in COPD patients

Australian researchers have developed a new oral immunotherapy (HI-164OV) that may help reduce the number and severity of exacerbations in patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and improve their overall health.

Researchers used Haemophilus influenza, the bacterium that causes meningitis in children, to develop the oral immunotherapy. Its efficacy was then tested on 38 patients with severe COPD in a randomized, multicenter, double blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Acute exacerbations of COPD are in part due to an inappropriate host response to abnormal bacterial colonization. By orally administering HI-164OV to patients with recurrent exacerbations of COPD, researchers found that they can drive a specific T-cell response that down-regulates bronchus inflammation.

Results of the study included a significant reduction in moderate to severe exacerbations (63 percent), mean duration of episode (37 percent), prescribed antibiotics (56 percent), and exacerbations requiring hospitalization (90 percent), with no adverse effects detected.

The abstract of this study was published in the April issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians.  Click Here to Access the Abstract from CHEST