Recombinant Zoster Vaccine Effectively Protects Adults With Rheumatoid Arthritis: Study

Written By : Dr Riya Dave |Medically Reviewed By : Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli Published On 2025-03-24T08:15:02+05:30 | Updated On 24 March 2025 1:09 PM IST

Researchers have determined in a new study that the recombinant zoster vaccine (RZV) offers good protection from herpes zoster (HZ) and postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) among adults 50 years and older with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In addition, scientists did not determine an increased risk of RA flare after vaccination. This study was conducted by Emily R. and fellow researchers was published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases journal.

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.

Reference:

Rayens, E., Sy, L. S., Qian, L., Wu, J., Ackerson, B. K., Luo, Y., Cheng, Y., Lin, A. T., Solano, Z., De Jesus, J., Amundsen, B., Florea, A., Ku, J. H., Chmielewski-Yee, E., Oraichi, D., Seifert, H., Yun, H., & Tseng, H. F. (2025). Effectiveness and safety of the recombinant zoster vaccine in individuals ≥50 years of age with rheumatoid arthritis: a matched cohort and self-controlled case series study. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ard.2025.01.045https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ard.2025.01.045

Annals of the Rheumatic Diseasesrecombinant zoster vaccinerheumatoid arthritisherpes zosterpostherpetic neuralgiavaccine effectivenesssafetyRA flares

Source : Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases

Dr Riya Dave

Dr Riya Dave has completed dentistry from Gujarat University in 2022. She is a dentist and accomplished medical and scientific writer known for her commitment to bridging the gap between clinical expertise and accessible healthcare information. She has been actively involved in writing blogs related to health and wellness.

Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli

Dr Kamal Kant Kohli-MBBS, DTCD- a chest specialist with more than 30 years of practice and a flair for writing clinical articles, Dr Kamal Kant Kohli joined Medical Dialogues as a Chief Editor of Medical News. Besides writing articles, as an editor, he proofreads and verifies all the medical content published on Medical Dialogues including those coming from journals, studies,medical conferences,guidelines etc. Email: drkohli@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751