Methotrexate is the pivotal treatment for arthritis, but it weakens the response to the influenza vaccine. An American study shows that stopping it for two weeks improves the effectiveness of the vaccine without worsening the polyarthritis.
Flu season is starting, and vaccine season too. A US study, presented this week at the ACR / ARHP annual meeting in San Diego, shows an interesting relationship between seasonal influenza vaccination and treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. Patients who take this treatment, and who stop it for two weeks after their influenza vaccination, benefit from the better effectiveness of the vaccine. All without relapse of arthritis symptoms.
Improve vaccine efficacy
“Patients with rheumatoid arthritis are more susceptible to infections, including seasonal influenza, due to abnormal functioning of their immune system and immune suppression associated with disease-modifying therapy,” explains Jin Ryun Park, one of the authors of the report. ‘study. The most widely used treatment for arthritis is methotrexate, an immunosuppressant. But it decreases the effectiveness of the influenza vaccine.
Hence the development of this research on the temporary stopping of treatment to improve the response to the vaccine. 316 people participated in the study. 75.5% of patients who interrupted treatment for two weeks had a better response to the vaccine. Against 54.5% of those who did not interrupt their treatment.
For the researchers, this could apply to other vaccines, such as the one against pneumococcal pneumonia or shingles. These vaccines are indeed essential to reduce the heavy infectious toll during rheumatoid arthritis.
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