Active and passive immunization strategies for Pseudomonas aeruginosa pneumonia.

The unusually high mortality associated with Pseudomonas aeruginosa pneumonia has provided an incentive for the development of immunologic strategies for preventing or treating this infection. A guinea pig model of experimental P. aeruginosa pneumonia was employed to determine prophylactic efficacy of active immunization with a detoxified lipopolysaccharide vaccine; efficacy of passive immune therapy utilizing a new hyperimmune immunoglobulin G preparation enriched for antibodies to P. aeruginosa immunotypes 1, 2, 4, and 6; and efficacy of active and passive immunization against the mucoid exopolysaccharide antigen associated with mucoid strains of P. aeruginosa. Each of these immunologic methods provided an element of protection against P. aeruginosa pneumonia.