Vaccination of autologous stem cell transplant recipients with live varicella vaccine: a pilot study.
Support Care Cancer 2003;
11:739-41. [PMID:
13680325 DOI:
10.1007/s00520-003-0527-8]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2003] [Accepted: 07/23/2003] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
A pilot study of vaccination with live, attenuated varicella vaccine for prevention of zoster was performed in autologous stem cell transplant (SCT) recipients. Nine patients were vaccinated between 3-4 months after transplantation. The antigen-specific immune response was studied by lymphocyte proliferation. No systemic side effects were seen. One of nine patients developed herpes zoster HZ during follow-up. There was a tendency for a strengthened specific immune response after SCT ( p=0.12). This pilot study shows that vaccination with live, attenuated varicella vaccine can be performed safely 3-4 months after autologous stem cell transplantation. Additional studies are needed to assess efficacy of this approach in the prevention of HZ.
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