Recombinant Zoster Vaccine Effectively Protects Adults With Rheumatoid Arthritis: Study

This retrospective cohort study examined RZV's effectiveness and safety through Kaiser Permanente Southern California data to shed light on vaccine protection for this high-risk group. Vaccine effectiveness (VE) was measured in the study through a retrospective matched cohort analysis.

Adults 50 years and older with RA who were administered two doses of RZV (at least four weeks apart) were matched with unvaccinated controls in a 1:3 ratio. Adjusted hazard ratios (HR) and VE against HZ and PHN were estimated through Cox proportional hazards regression. Safety was assessed by self-controlled case series analysis, determining the risk of RA flares within 30 days of vaccination with conditional Poisson regression.

Results

1926 vaccinated and 5746 unvaccinated adults with RA were included in the study. The findings are as follows:

• The adjusted VE of two doses of RZV against HZ was 60.7% (95% CI, 41.0%-73.8%).

• In subgroup analysis among participants who had doses 4 weeks to 6 months apart, VE for HZ was 57.9% (95% CI, 34.4%-73.0%).

• Two doses of RZV VE for PHN was 88.7% (95% CI, 12.1%-98.5%).

• No heightened risk of RA flares within 30 days post vaccination was found in 2606 adults with RA who received ≥1 RZV dose (RR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.75-1.37).

The study authors concluded that two doses of RZV provided robust protection against HZ and PHN in RA patients aged >50 years and no flare-up of RA 30 days following vaccination. This indicates the efficacy and safety of RZV in immunocompromised populations and supports the administration of RZV in RA patients for prevention of complications from HZ.

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