Bacterial immunotherapy is highly effective in reducing recurrent upper respiratory tract infections in children: a prospective observational study.

Purpose: Whilst immunotherapy is an appealing option as it could reduce the burden of recurrent pediatric respiratory tract infections (RTI), there is limited evidence on its effectiveness and more research was requested in order to better understand this therapeutic modality.

Methods: We performed a prospective cohort study involving 57 subjects to assess the safety and effectiveness a 3-month regimen of either typified or patient-specific bacterial lysates could have in reducing the number of RTIs in children aged 0 to 11 years with histories of recurrent episodes.

Results: After a 6-month follow-up, the number of RTIs and school absenteeism dropped sharply and significantly, from an adjusted mean (standard error) of 0.