ArticlePediatric allergy and immunology : official publication of the European Society of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology2024
A critical analysis of the effect of OM-85 for the prevention of recurrent respiratory tract infections or wheezing/asthma from systematic reviews with meta-analysis.
Article in Pediatric allergy and immunology : official publication of the European Society of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Impact of oral bacterial lysates on asthma control and immune parameters in children: evidence from an updated systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Pooled it
- Lactoferrin combined withFrontiers in pediatrics · 2026Trial
- Mechanisms and therapeutic strategies of asthma: from bench to bedside.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2026Review
- Assessing the Reduction of Recurrent Admissions Using OM-85 for the Treatment of Preschool Wheeze (ARROW): Protocol for a Multi-Centre, Randomised, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial.Journal of paediatrics and child health · 2026Article
- Editorial comment: Efficacy and safety of bacterial immunostimulants in immunodeficient individuals: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Pediatric allergy and immunology : official publication of the European Society of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology · 2026Article
- Evidence-based guideline for clinical practice in the diagnosis, treatment, management, and prevention of recurrent wheezing in infants and toddlers in China.Pediatric investigation · 2026Article
- Bacterial-Derived Immunomodulators as a Preventive Strategy for Viral Respiratory Tract Infections and Associated Wheezing or Asthma in Children: A Targeted Narrative Review.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Exploring Oxygen Therapy as a Supporting Treatment for Asthma: Current Insights and Perspectives.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- The impact of bacterial lysate (OM-85) on clinical and immunological parameters in children with allergic rhinitis.European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2025Article
- Efficacy of OM-85 (Broncho-Vaxom) for prevention of acute exacerbations in patients with chronic airway diseases or chronic bronchitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of thoracic disease · 2025Article
- Is There a Role for Immunostimulant Bacterial Lysates in the Management of Respiratory Tract Infection?Biomolecules · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Acute respiratory tract infections (RTIs) are one of the most common causes of pediatric consultations/hospitalizations and a major trigger for asthma exacerbations. Some consensus statements have recommended the use of immunostimulants to boost natural defenses against severe or repeated infections. One of the most common immunostimulants is OM-85; while several randomized clinical trials (RCTs) have evaluated its efficacy in preventing acute RTIs and wheezing/asthma exacerbations, results have been conflicting. Similarly, various systematic reviews with meta-analyses (SRMs) on OM-85 have used different strategies, populations, and outcomes; moreover, SRM conclusions are limited when the original studies are highly heterogeneous or have a low quality, hindering the generalizability of the findings. Here we summarize the evidence on the effect of OM-85 to prevent acute RTIs, wheezing/asthma episodes, or loss of asthma control in children, by including and critically evaluating all SRMs published to date. We searched for SRMs on OM-85 in three publication databases and found nine SRMs (seven for RTI, and two for wheezing/asthma). Among those, one had a high confidence evaluation of quality (AMSTAR-2 tool) and found a reduction in the total number of acute RTIs among the OM-85 group. Overall, no strong recommendations can be derived from the existing literature, mainly due to the high heterogeneity among included RCTs and SRMs. Further, large, high-quality RCTs are needed to confirm the true efficacy of OM-85 for the prevention of acute RTIs, asthma development, and asthma exacerbations.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.