THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE IMMUNE-BOOSTING PREPARATIONS IN PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS

Abstract

Respiratory infections are undoubtedly one of the most common diseases that both primary care physicians and specialists working in hospitals have to deal with. The percentage of these diseases is particularly high in children and, depending on the child's age, may range from 6% to even 25%. A major clinical problem is the recurrent nature of these infections and their complications. This results in receiving an increased number of medications that can cause numerous side effects. Overprescription of antibiotics and consequently, increase of antibiotic resistance are also observed. Looking forward, the prevention of the recurrent infections is the key problem. The aim of our work was to evaluate the efficacy of the most popular preparations available on the pharmaceutical market that can improve immunity and complement conventional methods of treating infections or completely replace them. These include: elderberry, β-Glucans, lactoferrin, colostrum, black cumin preparations, echinacea, propolis, Streptococcus salivarius K12, inosine pranobex, ginseng, OM-85 bacterial lysate. We reviewed the literature from 2012 to 2024 using Pubmed and Google Scholar. The assesment of the effectiveness of preparations for immunity was based primarily on the systematic reviews, meta-analyses and randomised controlled trials. The above-mentioned preparations are largely characterized by a positive impact on improving the immunity of people supplementing them by activating non-specific immunity mechanisms. Thanks to this, some of the respondents can observe the regulation of the body's inflammatory response and, consequently, a decrease in the number of infections and their course. Due to the still insufficient number of studies on these preparations and the discrepancies in the results obtained among authors, further researches are needed to take a clear stance on their effectiveness.