Vaccinations in patients with autoimmune diseases

The introduction of vaccinations provided one of the most efficient solutions to combating morbidity and mortality associated with infections. They have proven efficiency in protecting both healthy patients and patients with autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases AIRDs). In fact, patients with AIRDs are often at higher risk of acquiring infections; this is particularly evident in patients receiving immunosuppressive treatment. Therefore, a magnitude of studies emphasized the importance of immunization in AIRDS. On the other hand, a number of studies have highlighted concerns of vaccine efficacy in AIRD being potentially reduced. Another issue of importance regarding immunization and AIRD is vaccine safety and the potential risk of AIRD flares following vaccination. This chapter overviews the literature outlining infection risk in AIRD patients and the safety and efficacy of administrating vaccinations.