Flu shot stop mtx for two weeks study -stopping improves flu shot results

SAN DIEGO — For people with rheumatoid arthritis, immune response to the flu vaccine is significantly stronger when methotrexate therapy is discontinued for 2 weeks after immunization, results from a prospective multicenter randomized trial show. But this temporary cessation has no effect on rheumatoid arthritis disease activity.
The response was better by 15% to 20%, as expected, but there was no increase in the flare rate," said investigator Jin Kyun Park, MD, from Seoul National University Hospital in South Korea.

"I hope this study will mean that fewer physicians will be scared of giving the vaccine. We know we should give vaccines, but we don't always do that in the clinic," he said here at the American College of Rheumatology 2017 Annual Meeting.
The trial builds on a pilot study in which Dr Park and his colleagues assessed patients who temporarily stopped methotrexate for 4 weeks before vaccination, 2 weeks before and 2 weeks after vaccination, and 4 weeks after vaccination, or who continued methotrexate (Ann Rheum Dis. 2017;76:1559-1565). The results demonstrated that suspending methotrexate for 2 weeks after vaccination is the best way to increase the effectiveness of the flu vaccine with no increase in the risk for disease flares.
Improving Vaccine Effectiveness

When the vaccine is administered, "we ask patients to skip the next 2 weekly doses," Dr Park explained. People might be less compliant if they are asked to hold off on 2 weekly doses before coming to the clinic.
Because patients taking methotrexate could be at a higher risk for infection, preventive measures like flu vaccination are particularly important, he pointed out.
In the intent-to-treat analysis, 156 were randomized to continue their methotrexate and 160 people took a 2-week drug holiday after their flu shot.
All participants received the seasonal quadrivalent influenza vaccine, which contained H1N1, H3N2, B/Yamagata, and B/Victoria, from October 7, 2016 to January 9, 2017.
More patients who temporarily stopped methotrexate than continued achieved seroprotection related to each strain in the vaccine.

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