Collaborative studies in mucosal immunology in Goroka

A collaborative program between the Papua New Guinea (PNG) Institute of Medical Research and the Hunter Mucosal Group has completed studies relevant to protection of the airways against bacterial infection. Specifically, these studies addressed the mucosal capacity to produce local immunoglobulins and the capacity of the airways to respond to an oral vaccine containing inactivated nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi). The mucosal IgA response to NTHi antigens was blunted in both children and adults in PNG compared with that found in Australian children and adults, whose airways are colonized only intermittently. Despite this, when oral NTHi is given to Papua New Guinean adults with chronic airways disease, it is followed by a significant (50%) reduction in incidence of acute bronchitic episodes, and a 3-log reduction in density of colonization, which persisted about 10 months. The implications of these key findings are discussed with respect to both mechanism and wider control of pathology emanating from abnormal airways colonization in a PNG environment.