Open AccessEfficacy and safety of OM‐85 in paediatric recurrent respiratory tract infections which could have a possible protective effect on COVID‐19 pandemic: A meta‐analysis
Author(s) -
Cao Changqing,
Wang Jinghua,
Li Yuning,
Li Yumei,
Ma Liyan,
Abdelrahim Mohamed E. A.,
Zhu Yi
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
international journal of clinical practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.756
H-Index - 98
eISSN - 1742-1241
pISSN - 1368-5031
DOI - 10.1111/ijcp.13981
Subject(s) - medicine , covid-19 , pandemic , betacoronavirus , meta analysis , respiratory tract infections , coronavirus infections , respiratory tract , intensive care medicine , respiratory system , virology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , disease , outbreak
The OM‐85 (Broncho‐Vaxom) consumption has drawn considerable attention in the prevention of recurrent respiratory tract infections. However, it has been reported that the relationship between OM‐85 consumption and recurrent respiratory tract infections is variable. This meta‐analysis was performed to evaluate this relationship. Methods A systematic literature search up‐to May 2020 was performed and 14 studies were detected with 1859 paediatric subjects, of them 890 consumed OM‐85. They were reporting relationships between OM‐85 consumption and recurrent respiratory tract infections. Odds ratio (OR) or mean differences (MD) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) was calculated to evaluate the prognostic role of OM‐85 consumption and recurrent respiratory tract infections using the dichotomous or continuous method with a random or fixed‐effect model. Results OM‐85 consumption was significantly related to lower frequency of respiratory tract infections (MD, −1.16; 95% CI, −1.66 to −0.65, P < .001); lower total duration of respiratory tract infections (MD, −19.51; 95% CI, −23.00 to −16.01, P < .001); lower incidence of respiratory tract infections (OR, 0.40; 95% CI, 0.21‐0.77, P = .006); lower number of antibiotic courses (MD, −1.40; 95% CI, −2.63 to 0.17, P = .03); and lower antibiotic use (OR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.29‐0.52, P < .001). However, OM‐85 consumption was not significantly related to adverse event rate (OR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.52‐2.03, P = .94); or to wheezing attacks frequency (MD, −0.25; 95% CI, −0.59 to 0.08, P = .14). Conclusions The impact of OM‐85 consumption on recurrent respiratory tract infections may have a great effect as a tool to improve subjects’ immunity against recurrent respiratory tract infections, which could be helpful in crucial situations, eg, COVID‐19 pandemic. OM‐85 non‐consumers had an independent risk relationship with recurrent respiratory tract infections. This relationship forces us to recommend OM‐85 consumption with those with a high risk of recurrent respiratory tract infections to avoid any possible complications.