[Oral application of bacterial vaccine for infection prophylaxis (author's transl)].

Guinea pigs were orally and subcutaneously immunized against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Whereas 93% of untreated control animals died after a subsequent IP infection, vaccinated animals developed an efficient protection. The mortality rate in orally pretreated animals was only 20% - 30%. Some immunological parameters were also improved by vaccination. IgG and IgM concentrations in serum increased, as did the agglutination titer against bacteria. Oral vaccination with heat inactivated pathogenic bacteria seems to be a promising procedure to improve the resistance of patients to bacterial infections.