Asthmatic patients on inhaled steroids get protected from influenza through influenza vaccine

An influenza vaccine can prove to be an effective option when it comes to treating asthmatic patients who are treated with inhaled steroids and fighting against type A influenza, as per a researcher from Baylor College of Medicine in a recent publication. It was also revealed by the researcher that the same could not be said for ensuring protection against type B flu.

From News-Medical.Net:

“The findings of this study should reassure physicians and patients that influenza vaccine does provide protection against influenza in most asthma patients taking inhaled steroids,” said Dr. Nicola Hanania, BCM assistant professor of medicine and director of the Asthma Clinical Research Center. “We certainly don’t want asthmatics to avoid taking their influenza vaccine because of these study results.”

“It works for influenza type A, the most common type that circulates in Houston and the United States,” he said.

There are occasional outbreaks of influenza type B, and in the event this happens, people who use inhaled steroids to control their asthma may need to receive other medications in addition to the vaccine, he said.

Hanania remarked that the immune response of patients receiving inhaled steroids at different doses and the influenza vaccine was higher than those of individuals treating with placebo. It was also remarked that patients being administered with high doses of inhaled steroids had a lower immune response when it came to treatment of type B influenza. The findings of this report were published in an issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.