The effect of anti-tumour necrosis factor alpha treatment on the antibody response to influenza vaccination.
Ann Rheum Dis
; 67(5): 713-6, 2008 May.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-17965123
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
The effect of anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF) therapy on the antibody responses to vaccines is the subject of ongoing debate. Therefore, we investigated the effect of the three currently available anti-TNF agents on influenza vaccination outcomes in a patient population with long-standing disease.METHODS:
In a prospective cohort study, we assessed the antibody response upon influenza vaccination in 112 patients with long-standing autoimmune disease treated with immunosuppressive medication either with anti-TNF (etanercept, adalimumab or infliximab; n = 64) or without anti-TNF (n = 48) and a control group of 18 healthy individuals. Antibody responses were determined by haemagglutination inhibition assay, before and 4 weeks after vaccination.RESULTS:
The proportion of individuals with a protective titre (>or=40) after vaccination was large (80-94%) and did not significantly differ between the three groups. Post-vaccination geometric mean antibody titres against influenza (A/H3N2 and B) were significantly lower in the 64 patients treated with anti-TNF compared with the 48 patients not receiving anti-TNF, and the healthy controls.CONCLUSIONS:
The antibody response to influenza vaccination in patients treated with anti-TNF is only modestly impaired. The proportion of patients that achieves a protective titre is not significantly diminished by the use of TNF blocking therapies.
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Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Autoimmune Diseases
/
Influenza Vaccines
/
Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha
/
Influenza, Human
/
Immunosuppressive Agents
Type of study:
Observational_studies
Limits:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Language:
En
Year:
2008
Type:
Article