Safety and efficacy of influenza vaccination in systemic lupus erythematosus patients with quiescent disease.

Objective: to assess the safety and efficacy of influenza vaccination in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and to evaluate the influence of immunosuppressive drugs on the immune response.

Methods: SLE patients (n=56) and healthy controls (n=18) were studied. All patients had quiescent disease (SLE disease activity index
Results: Influenza vaccination did not result in changes in disease activity and was well tolerated. SLE patients had fewer seroconversions or fourfold titre rises for A/H1N1 (p<0.001) and A/H3N2 (p<0.001) than healthy controls, while for B/Hong Kong the difference was of borderline significance (p=0.051). With regard to immunosuppressive treatment, fewer SLE patients using azathioprine developed fourfold titre rises against A/H3N2 (p=0.041), and fewer achieved titres of >or=40 against A/H3N2 (p=0.030) compared with the other patient groups.

Conclusions: Influenza vaccination in SLE patients with quiescent disease is safe but is less effective than in controls. Use of azathioprine was associated with a trend to decreased vaccination efficacy.