A Discussion About the Safety of Recombinant Zoster Vaccine in Rheumatology Patients

Herpes zoster is a public health concern for the public, especially in subjects who are immunocompromised. The CDC–recommended recombinant zoster vaccine (RZV) is an effective way to reduce the incidence of herpes zoster, but because of the increased immunogenicity of the vaccine adjuvant, there is a concern about flares of underlying autoimmune diseases in rheumatology patients. Join Drs. Syed Raza Saurav Acharya, and Gabrielle Howard, as they discuss the safety of RZV in this patient population, a topic they, and their coauthor Debendra Pattanaik, addressed in their February 2022 Southern Medical Journal article. In this podcast, they talk about why patients with rheumatic diseases are found to be at higher risk of herpes zoster and what led them to conduct their study. Additionally, they provide evidence of the safety of  RZV in subjects with rheumatologic diseases.