Flu hard on COPD patients

NEW YORK, Oct 11 (Reuters) During influenza season, patients with COPD who catch colds or flu use more healthcare resources and have increased breathing difficulties, worse functional status and impaired quality of life, a study finds.

But the study also suggests that getting two flu vaccines -- a flu shot and flu nasal mist -- appears help with COPD symptoms.

COPD -- short for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease -- is a progressive lung illness caused by smoking that includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis. It is characterized by airflow limitation that is not completely reversible.

In a review of 585 acute respiratory illnesses occurring in COPD patients during a recent flu season, investigators found that these illnesses were associated with a drop in lung function, worsening of disease severity scores on a standard index, and hospitalization.

Ninety-four of the illnesses were confirmed as being influenza-related and such illnesses were predictive of adverse effects on lung function and severity of disease, note Dr Geoffrey J. Gorse, from the Saint Louis University Health Sciences Center, and colleagues in a report in the journal Chest.

But they also note that a two-vaccine approach was associated with better disease severity scores than a one-vaccine strategy.

Further studies may be needed to clarify the effects of the intranasal vaccine in older adults with COPD, the authors conclude.

SOURCE: Chest, October 2006.

REUTERS SAM KN0855