Controlled trial of Pseudomonas immunoglobulin and vaccine in burn patients

Abstract

In a controlled trial burn patients at risk of Pseudomonas aeruginosa septicaemia were passively immunised with an immunoglobulin prepared from plasma from healthy human volunteers vaccinated with a polyvalent pseudomonas vaccine; passively immunised and vaccinated; or only vaccinated. In children the mortality was lowest in those passively immunised (0%, 0/18); it was 21% (9/42) in controls. In adults the mortality rate of those receiving immunoglobulin or vaccine was 10% (3/30) or 8.3% (5/60), respectively, compared with 36% (22/61) in controls. Combined vaccine and immunoglobulin treatment gave rather less protection (mortality 13.6%, 3/22) than vaccine alone. Pseudomonas infection of burns was less common in patients who received immunoglobulin than in vaccinated or control patients.