Recombinant adjuvanted herpes zoster vaccine is safe, study shows

Rheumatologists should feel more confident in recommending vaccination against herpes zoster to patients with rheumatoid arthritis after a study suggested that the recently approved recombinant adjuvanted vaccine was well tolerated in this group of patients. The study, published in ACR Open Rheumatology, showed that rates of side effects experienced by the patients with rheumatic conditions were similar to those seen in patients in the pivotal clinical trials, and that the vaccine did not prompt flares of rheumatoid conditions. The lifetime risk of getting shingles is around one in three in the United States, and risk of the condition grows with age. Taking immunosuppressant medications, such as corticosteroids, methotrexate, biologic disease-modifying agents, and janus kinase inhibitors, also heightens the risk. Despite this, uptake of vaccination against herpes zoster has historically been low in patients with rheumatic diseases, says Sonali Desai, MD, MPH, from the Division of Rheumatology, Immunology, and Allergy, Department of Medicine, at...