Effect of influenza vaccinations on humoral response in patients with bronchial asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

The aim of the study was to compare humoral response to influenza vaccinations in healthy people and patients with bronchial asthma or COPD. Ninety-one subjects (20 with COPD, 21 with bronchial asthma and 45 healthy) were vaccinated with a single dose of influenza subunit vaccine. Antibody response to haemagglutinin (HI) and neuraminidase (NI) glycoproteins and pulmonary function were measured before and after vaccination. Influenza-like symptoms and intensity of COPD or asthma complaints after vaccination were also recorded. A significant increase of geometric mean titres of HI and NI antibodies was observed in all three vaccinated groups. No significant differences between the COPD, asthma and healthy groups were observed in mean fold increase of HI and NI antibodies and response rate to vaccination or proportion of subjects with the sufficient protection level of HI. No change in intensity of asthma or COPD symptoms was found. There were no differences between the groups in the proportion of subjects who experienced influenza-like symptoms. The results suggest that in patients with bronchial asthma or COPD humoral response to influenza vaccine and safety of vaccinations are comparable to those in healthy individuals. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.