- Irish scientists say a new vaccine might help treat kids
with eczema flare-ups.
- Current solutions include using creams to keep the skin from getting too dry.
- They say that each child's "immune signature" would be taken into
account when making the medicines.
A group of researchers from Ireland's Trinity College Dublin released a study
today in the journal JCI Insight that suggests a "tailored vaccine"
might help kids with acne caused by germs.
Knowing more about how the immune system responds to eczema caused by the
common staphylococcus aureus bacterium helped the researchers find new cells that
could be used in a vaccine. Known Source
Experts say that up to one in four children in Ireland have eczema, which is
also called atopic dermatitis.
Skin that is dry and itchy and wounds that "weep" when bacteria gets
into them. These wounds can become dangerous illnesses that can affect a
person's quality of life.
Skin problems like eczema can sometimes cause serious diseases that can kill,
like septicemia (when germs get into the bloodstream and harm it).
As the lead author of the study and a consultant dermatologist at Trinity, Dr.
Julianne Clowry said in a statement, "There is a real need for new options
to treat and prevent infected flare-ups of eczema in children."
"Current treatments don't always work, and when they do, the relief may
only last a short time because symptoms often come back."
"Antibiotics are needed sometimes, but scientists are working hard to find
other options because antimicrobial resistance is becoming a bigger
problem," she said.
Clowry said that all of these bad things make a customized vaccine an appealing
idea to maybe lessen the severity of eczema, make results last longer and be
better, and cut down on the need for antibiotics. This would be done while also
lowering the risk of complications and possibly the development of other atopic
diseases like asthma and hay fever.
Details about the work being done to make a cure for eczema in children
Different parts of the college, like the schools of medicine, statistics, and
computer science, worked together on the study project.
The researchers said that together they found important "immune
signatures" in kids whose eczema flared up because of an infection. They
said that focusing on those signs helped them come up with new exact targets
for a possible vaccine.
The group worked with 93 kids, some of whom were 16 years old. Researchers
looked at the immune reactions of three groups: people with eczema and a proven
S. aureus skin infection; people with eczema but no S. aureus skin infection;
and people who did not have eczema.
Researchers said that the amounts of "T cells" (white blood cells
that fight illness) and other measures were very different between the groups.
There are many kinds of T cells in humans, but they all do different things to
keep the body from getting sick.
The immune response was weakened in people with infected eczema flare-ups
because some of the important T cells that power a strong immune response were
turned off.
A possible tailored treatment for eczema in kids
Researchers said the results are a first step toward making treatments that
could help people with repeated eczema flare-ups in a specific way.
"A connection between the staphylococcus aureus bug and eczema has been
known for many decades, but new scientific methods are still making important
discoveries about the complicated relationship between these bacteria and how
people react to them," said Alan Irvine, a professor of dermatology at
Trinity. In our work, we describe new findings about how the immune systems of
children with eczema react to this common bacteria.
Rachel McLoughlin, a professor of immunology at Trinity and a senior author on
the study, said that the group found a general pattern of immune suppression
linked to infected eczema flare-ups. This suppression led to the loss of
certain T cells that are needed to start an effective immune response.
"More work needs to be done to make these results more useful to a wider
range of people," McLoughlin said in a statement. "This will help
make sure that the patterns found are the same across age groups and subgroups
with more racial diversity."
How to get rid of acne the right way
Dr. Leslie Young, a pediatrician and primary care doctor at MemorialCare
Medical Group – Lakewood in California, told Medical News Today that the two most
important things that can be done right now to control eczema are to keep the
skin from drying out too much and to lessen the irritation that comes from dry
skin.
Young, who wasn't involved in the study, said, "Because eczema is a
long-term condition and how the skin reacts to dryness depends on genes and the
immune system, these strategies are only short-term fixes that ease
flare-ups."
"Topical steroids or immune suppressants are usually used to treat the
irritation," Young said. "However, both of these can have serious
side effects if used for a long time." When an infection is making eczema
worse, medicines taken by mouth are often used to stop the infection. It's only
for a short time that these medicines work.
Young said that the vaccine might help people whose acne gets worse when they
get sick.
Young said, "I'm not sure if I should recommend this vaccine to people who
have never had eczema because staphylococcal bacteria often live on the skin of
healthy people and don't hurt them." "This bacteria is naturally
found on healthy skin and can stop harmful bacteria from growing too
much." I'm worried about what might happen if the normal germs that live
on good skin are changed.
Dr. J. Wes Ulm is an analyst for the National Institutes of Health and a
medical researcher and bioinformatics expert. He told Medical News Today that
the study is an interesting and possibly promising way to deal with diseases
that, even though it is still early on, "may nonetheless help to open up a
wider range of customized interventions for eczema and diseases like it."
Ulm, who wasn't involved in the study, said, "Moisturizers or
corticosteroid ointments are basic treatments that are used most of the time.
However, other topical creams with substances or
calcineurin inhibitors have become more common. These help to temper the immune
and inflammatory responses that contribute to eczema." "In general,
the first step in treating eczema in kids is to moisturize the skin to make it
less dry." In more severe cases, though, phototherapy, JAK inhibitors
(which stop an enzyme called janus kinase from working, making the errant
immune response worse), or biologics that are put under the skin are also
options. Ulm also said that vaccination probably wouldn't be used as a way to
stop eczema because different people get it from different places and at
different times.
"That being said, it's possible that more research will reveal
subpopulations—maybe patient cohorts with genetic differences that make them
more likely to get severe eczema—who might benefit from a vaccine-based
approach to prevent disease in the first place," he said.
