Improved immune responses to influenza vaccination in the elderly using an immunostimulant patch

• Published in: Vaccine Vol. 23; no. 7; pp. 946 - 950
• Main Authors: Frech, Sarah A., Kenney, Richard T., Spyr, Christian A., Lazar, Hedvika, Viret, Jean-François, Herzog, Christian, Glück, Reinhard, Glenn, Gregory M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 04-01-2005; Elsevier; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Adjuvant; Adjuvants, Immunologic - administration & dosage; Adjuvants, Immunologic - adverse effects; Administration, Cutaneous; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Applied microbiology; Bacterial Toxins - administration & dosage; Bacterial Toxins - adverse effects; Bacterial Toxins - immunology; Biological and medical sciences; Elderly; Enterotoxins - administration & dosage; Enterotoxins - adverse effects; Enterotoxins - immunology; Escherichia coli; Escherichia coli Proteins - administration & dosage; Escherichia coli Proteins - adverse effects; Escherichia coli Proteins - immunology; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Immune system; Immunostimulant patch; Influenza; Influenza Vaccines - administration & dosage; Influenza Vaccines - adverse effects; Influenza Vaccines - immunology; Influenza, Human - immunology; Influenza, Human - prevention & control; Male; Microbiology; Middle Aged; Skin; Vaccines; Vaccines, antisera, therapeutical immunoglobulins and monoclonal antibodies (general aspects); Europe; LT; Adjuvant; Immunostimulant patch; Elderly; Influenza; Human; Infection; Immune response; Viral disease; Immunological adjuvant; Vaccination
• ISSN: 0264-410X; 1873-2518
• DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2004.06.036

The elderly have greater morbidity and mortality due to influenza, and respond poorly to influenza vaccination compared to younger adults. This study was designed to determine if the adjuvant heat-labile enterotoxin from
Escherichia coli (LT), administered as an immunostimulant (IS) patch on the skin with influenza vaccination, improves influenza immune responses in the elderly. Three weeks following vaccination, hemagglutination inhibition (HAI) responses in LT IS patch recipients showed improvement over those of elderly receiving vaccine alone, as demonstrated by significance or trends in fold rise [A/Panama (
P = 0.004), A/New Caledonia (
P = 0.09)], seroconversion [A/New Caledonia (63% versus 40%,
P = 0.01), A/Panama (54% versus 36%,
P = 0.08)] and seroprotection [26%, 20% and 16% greater for the patch group for A/New Caledonia, A/Panama and B/Shandong strains, respectively]. The data suggest that an LT IS patch may further enhance influenza vaccine immune responses in the elderly.