Vaccines and Immunization

Vaccines for Immune Mediated Diseases

Patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMID) such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) or psoriasis, are at increased risk of infection, partially because of the disease itself, but mostly because of treatment with immune-modulatory or immunosuppressive drugs. In spite of their elevated risk for vaccine-preventable disease, vaccination coverage in IMID patients is surprisingly low. Although the reduced quality of the immune response in patients under immunotherapy may have a negative impact on vaccination efficacy in this population, adequate humoral response to vaccination in IMID patients has been demonstrated for Hepatitis B, Influenza and Pneumococcal vaccination.

Vaccines for immune-mediated diseases represent a promising frontier in medical research and therapeutic intervention. Immune-mediated diseases, also known as autoimmune diseases, occur when the immune system erroneously targets and attacks the body's own tissues. This category includes conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, and systemic lupus erythematosus. Developing vaccines to prevent or treat these diseases involves understanding the complex mechanisms of immune tolerance and autoimmunity.