The ACIP has discussed and analyzed its VZV vaccination policy to ensure safety and reduce disease burden. This report serves as a supplement to the 2008 Prevention of Herpes Zoster Recommendations.

In the past 2 decades, mortality from end-stage renal disease (ESRD) among U.S. patients with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) has declined significantly, a nationwide study found.

A claims data analysis shows that abatacept use in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients yielded a modestly reduced cardiovascular risk when compared to patients receiving TNF inhibitors (TNFi).

New data shows that nearly 15 percent of adult ibuprofen users exceed the maximum recommended dose of ibuprofen or other NSAIDs in a one-week period. 

Corticosteroid therapy is integral to the treatment of polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) and giant cell arteritis (GCA) and a new retrospective cohort study from the UK shows that PMR and GCA have similar, increased risk of fractures.

The RheumNow Week in Review discusses the past week's news, journal articles and highlights from RheumNow.com. This week's report covers the price of biologics treatment in psoriasis, comorbidities in myositis, bronchiectasis with MPO antibodies, and the risk of secondary TNF failure with anti-drug antibodies.

Like their adult counterparts, psoriasis in children is an independent risk factor for comorbidity, but not as much as  obesity.

An observational study of patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or spondyloarthritis (SpA) experiencing secondary failure to TNF inhibitor (TNFi) therapy showed that (secondary) loss of efficacy to a TNFi was associated with anti-drug antibodies in less than 30% of patients. 

Rheumatoid arthritis patients who were younger and who had lower body mass index, Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) scores, and less disease activity at baseline were most likely to achieve remission after combination etanercept (Enbrel) and methotrexate induction therapy, a post hoc analysis of the PRESERVE trial found.

Lancet reports that in a study teriparatide with risedronate, post-menopausal women with severe osteoporosis had significantly fewer new vertebral and clinical fractures on teriparatide comared to those receiving risedronate.

The RAPID-axSpA study of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA) patients showed that certolizumab pegol (CZP) treatment yielded rapid clinical improvement with limited radiographic progression and MRI inflammation at the sacroiliiac (SI) joint over 4 years.

Monotherapy with apremilast (Otezla) among patients with psoriatic arthritis who were biologic-naive was significantly more effective than placebo as early as week 2 in a phase IIIb study. 

Is your patient’s refrigerator the problem with the inefficacy of biologic therapies? Studies show most patients don't store their biologics correctly, which may be a source of limited drug efficacy.

By retrospectively reviewing electronic health record (EHR) data, Kreps et al found that rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients who lost >5 kg of weight were three times more likely to demonstrate improvement in disease activity.

In 2016 the WHO set out to eliminate HBV infection as a public health threat by 2030. So far, we are far from this goal as vaccine implementation has been suboptimal in a number of important patient populations, including patients with rheumatologic diseases, as well as other immunocompromising diseases like HIV.

Since 2000, the German Biologics register (BiKeR) has prospectively enrolled children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis to assess outcomes with biologic therapies.  A new report evaluates the efficacy and safety of etanercept (ETA), tocilizumab (TOC) and the interleukin-1 inhibitors (anakin

JAMA reports the results of a 5 year Finnish study comparing the results of laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy vs Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and shows that gastric bypass yielded greater weight loss at 5 years, the difference was not statistically significant, in patients with morbid obesity. 

The most common cerebrovascular events (CVEs) seen among a large cohort of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) were stroke and transient ischemia, and the majority of these events were attributable to the disease itself, a multinational study determined.

Dr. Jack Cush reviews a dozen highlights from the past week on RheumNow.com.

The Journal of Clinical Investigation reports results of a study showing that increases in CD21lo B cells and plasmablasts following that combination checkpoint blockade preceded the onset of immune-related adverse events.

While some have postulated that IRAEs are thought to be T cell mediated, B cells have also been implicated. Investigators studied 39 melanoma patients undergoing treatment with either anti-CTLA4 or anti-PD1, or combination CCB therapy. They analyzed changes in circulating B cells before and after the first cycle of therapy of immune checkpoint blockade (23 received combination therapy, 8 received anti-CTLA4, and 8 received anti-PD1).