ABSTRACT
Reasons for reducing the burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations on patient morbidity and mortality and scarce health care resources have been outlined in earlier chapters. There is considerable appeal in the use of low-risk and low-cost immunological interventions to prevent, or at least minimize, clinical effects resulting from respiratory infection in COPD patients. To date, inactivated influenza vaccination is the most successful and widely used immunization, with other immunological interventions against respiratory bacteria not yet shown to reduce exacerbations in COPD. This chapter will discuss the evidence for effectiveness of immunization on clinical outcomes related to acute exacerbation in COPD and some practical considerations.
