Primary care experience on Stimunex® gocce in children with recurrent respiratory infections: a real-world study during the COVID-19 pandemic era (original) (raw)

Prevention of New Respiratory Episodes in Children with Recurrent Respiratory Infections: An Expert Consensus Statement from the World Association of Infectious Diseases and Immunological Disorders (WAidid)

Microorganisms, 2020

In healthy infants and young children, the development of respiratory tract infections (RTIs) is extremely common. In this paper, we present an international consensus of the available approaches for the prevention of recurrent RTIs in children, including the atopic/allergic ones as well as those with asthma. Few convincing measures for reducing the frequency and clinical relevance of recurrent respiratory episodes in RTI-prone children have been developed until now. Among the most recently suggested measures, immunotherapy is attractive, but only for OM-85 is there a sufficient number of well-conducted clinical trials confirming efficacy in RTIs prevention with an adequate safety profile. In the case of probiotics, it is not clear which bacteria can offer the best results and which dosage and schedule of administration are the most effective. The problems of dosage and the schedule of administration are not solved also for vitamin D, despite some promising efficacy results. While w...

Effects of a Dietary Supplement on the Incidence of Acute Respiratory Infections in Susceptible Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Nutrición hospitalaria, 2015

although supplementation of specific micronutrients may improve immunologic factors, few studies about the combination of micronutrients with plant extracts on the occurrence of acute respiratory infections (ARI) have been published. to assess the effect of a nutritional supplement with micronutrients and plant extracts on the incidence of ARI in susceptible adults between January and April, 2012. a randomized, double-blind, parallel, placebo- controlled clinical trial was performed. Participants were adults susceptible to ARI who were healthy at the time of evaluation, signed informed consent forms and were not taking medication. They completed a medical history; weight, height, vital signs and laboratory analyses were assessed. Subjects were randomly assigned for consumption of the supplement or a placebo, for a 90 days period. Subjects made daily diary entries indicating the presence ARI symptoms. Those who became ill notified researchers and the attending physician confirmed the...

Compilation and meta-analysis of randomized placebo-controlled clinical trials on the prevention of respiratory tract infections in children using immunostimulants

Journal of investigational allergology & clinical immunology, 2001

Several immunostimulants presume to prevent respiratory tract infections (RTIs) in children, but their efficacy is controversial. To compile the findings of the randomized, placebo-controlled trials (RCTs) on the prevention of acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs) in children using immunostimulants, and to perform a meta-analysis. Medline, EMBASE databases, and register of Cochrane Acute Respiratory Infection Group. We searched all the references of immunostimulants and selected papers referring to RCTs on the prevention of ARTIs in children. Papers were rated according to Jadad's instrument. We abstracted the number of ARTIs, and a one-tailed probability value (p) was abstracted for each trial. Effect of medication was determined as weighted mean +/- SE of percent reduction of ARTIs regarding ARTIs of placebo groups as 100%. Four of five RCTs with Jadad's score > 3 showed significant reduction of ARTIs in immunostimulant groups. When only the trials reporting mean +...

Immunostimulants for preventing respiratory tract infection in children: A systematic review and meta-analysis

World Allergy Organization Journal, 2022

Childhood acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs) are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality, so, immunostimulants have been used as a preventative measure. Despite this, there is no updated evidence regarding the safety and efficacy of immunostimulant drugs for this purpose. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness and safety of immunostimulants in preventing ARTIs in children based on the most recent scientific evidence. Data sources such as PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Embase, Google Scholar, and Scopus were searched from 1965 to 10 January 2022 to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing immunostimulants administered by any method, with placebo to prevent ARTIs on children under 18 years of age without immunodeficiencies, anatomical, genetic, or allergic conditions. In order to analyze data from the studies, we used Review Manager 5.4 (The Cochrane Collaboration, 2020), assessed the certainty of the evidence with Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations (GRADE), and assessed the quality and risk of bias of the studies using the RoB tool 1.0. Further, outcomes were combined and analyzed using meta-analysis, subgroup analysis, and sensitivity analysis. Throughout the review, we included 72 placebo-controlled clinical trials involving 12,229 children.The meta-analyses, however, included only 38 studies (52.8%) with 4643 children (38% of the total) with data on mean number of ARTIs. These studies demonstrated a reduction in the ARTIs (MD-1.12 [95%CI-1.39 to À0.85]) and ratio of means of ARTIs (0.61 [95%CI 0.54-0.69]), corresponding to a percentage reduction of 39% (95%CI, 46%-31%) with moderate-quality data. Nevertheless, since there was considerable to substantial heterogeneity and bias was unclear in all domains in 32 out of 72 trials, the quality of the evidence for efficacy was deemed low. Only 14 trials reported adverse events. The review indicates that immunostimulants reduce the incidence of ARTIs by 40% on average in susceptible children, despite low-quality evidence, heterogeneity, and the possibility of publication bias. However, further studies are needed to establish immunostimulants' safety and efficacy profiles. This review was conducted without the support of any funding and has no registered number.

Pidotimod may prevent recurrent respiratory infections in children

Minerva pediatrica, 2014

Recurrent respiratory infections (RRI) constitute a social problem for both the pharmaco-economic impact and the burden for the family. Pidotimod is a synthetic immunostimulant. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of pidotimod on RRI prevention in children. Globally, 100 children (49 males, mean age 4.7 ± 1.2 years) with RRI were enrolled in the study. At baseline, children were randomly assigned to the treatment with pidotimod 400 mg/die or not for two months. Children were visited at baseline, after 30 (T1) and 60 (T2) days, and at follow-up (120 days; T3). Number of children with upper and lower airways symptoms, medications use, school attendance, and paediatric visits for RRI were evaluated. Pidotimod treatment was able of significantly reducing the number of children with upper and lower airways symptoms, and medications use, increasing school attendance, and reducing pediatric visits for RRI. This study provided the evidence that pidotimod may be able of prevent...