Oral immunomodulatory agents in the prevention of bacterial respiratory tract infections

Respiratory infections are a major health and economic problems in every country. Most infections are viral, bacterial in-fection but also are not rare. It should be emphasized that the respiratory tract infections are the cause of 20% of all med-ical consultations and 75% antibiotic treatment. To reduce the need for antibiotics, more and more attention is paid to the preparation increases the body’s resistance to bacterial infection. Non-specific multivalent vaccines containing killed at high temperature, bacterial cells or lysates. These preparations are non-specifically stimulate the overall immunity. They operate on the non-specific defense mechanisms, leading to increased antibody type IgA in secretions of the mu-cous membranes, phagocytic activity and IFN-γ. They may also stimulate the production of specific antibodies against bacterial antigens included in the formulation. Available on the Polish market oral preparations immunomodulatory of the best documented clinical efficacy are Luivac, Ribomunyl, Broncho-Vaxom and Ismigen. All lysates of bacterial strains are most often causing respiratory tract infections. Many clinical studies have shown that oral bacterial lysates reduce the risk of recurrent respiratory tract infections in adults and children and reduce the need for antibiotics.