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Vaccine Success is Limited in Rheumatoid Arthritis
Numerous guidelines (ACR, ACIP/CDC, ATS, NICE) all call for timely vaccinations in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and those receiving immunosuppressives or biologics.
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α Defensin Control of Inflammation
Alpha defensins are released following apoptosis, necrosis, or netosis of human neutrophils. They are taken up by other cells and microbes, wherein they permeablize membranes and kill microbes and host cells. Thus, they augment the antimicrobial capacity of macrophages and at the same time inhibit the biosynthesis of proinflammatory cytokines.
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RheumNow Week in Review - 15 April 2016
Video recap of highlights from this week at RheumNow.com.
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Population-Based TB Risk and Prevention with RA and Biologics
In a retrospective cohort comparison study, 42,180 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients were compared 1:4 with 168,000 normal controls to examine the incidence of new tuberculosis in Taiwan. The RA population included those receiving csDMARDs (36,162), etanercept (3,577), adalimumab (1,67
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March 2016 Top Social Media News
In March 2016, RheumNow published 82 social media “tweets” regarding news, research and teaching points that impact the rheumatology community. These feeds had a reach (impressions) of 86,400 with, 76 mentions, and over 2700 visits to learn on RheumNow.com.
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Antibiotics Fail to Treat Chronic Symptoms of Lyme Disease
(Reuters Health) - Twelve weeks of antibiotic therapy proved ineffective at combating the long-term symptoms seen in some people who have had Lyme disease, a new test of 280 sufferers found. (Citation source http://buff.ly/1Rs21R5)
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MMWR Update on Zika Virus: 116 US Cases Related to Travel
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that in the last year (January 2015 to February 2016), they have identified and confirmed 116 cases of the Zika virus among US residents, with nearly all having traveled to endemic regions.
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The Week in Review 18 March 2016
See the highlights from the past week that appeared on RheumNow.com, and watch Dr. Jack Cush as he reviews each of them.
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Less Treatment, Responses and Safety in Elder-Onset Rheumatoid Arthritis
A recent review compared elderly-onset rheumatoid arthritis (EORA) to those with younger-onset rheumatoid arthritis (YORA) to assess treatment responses and safety issues with biologics and DMARDS. EORA is generally defined as the onset of rheumatoid arthritis after age 60 years.
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Zika Virus May Cause Guillain-Barré Syndrome
The spectrum and extent of the Zika virus is still evolving. Lancet has reported 42 patients diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) during the Zika virus outbreak in French Polynesia.
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Should You Avoid Pneumococcal Vaccine in CAPS and Behcet's Patients
Althought EULAR currently recommends the pneumococcal vaccine be given to patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends the vaccine in patients treated with immunosuppressive drugs, a recent brief report suggests it be
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PML is Very Rare in Lupus
A systematic review of the literature was done to assess the relationship between immunosuppressive therapy, adult systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and the onset of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy.
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10 Ways Rheumatoid Arthritis Could’ve Killed Glenn Frey
I was truly stunned Monday when it was announced that Glenn Frey, from the Eagles, had died as a result of complications from his rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis and pneumonia.
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DSB Reports & Updates - January 2016
Comparative Harmful Risks with Targeted Immunomodulators. Desai et al did a systematic review of the literature, findings of 10 head-to-head RCTs and 51 observational studies.
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Increasing Hospitalization Rates for Shingles in Lupus
An administrative claims study of lupus patients drawn from the United States National Inpatient Sample between 2000 to 2011, studied hospitalization rates related to bacteremia, pneumonia, opportunistic fungal infection, herpes zoster, cytomegalovirus, or pneumocystis pneumonia (P
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Preventing Hepatitis B Reactivation Due to Immunosuppressive Drug Treatments (Best of 2015)
Reactivation of hepatitis B virus infection can have devastating consequences, especially amongst those patients receiving immunosuppressive therapy.
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Chikungunya Spread Continues (Best of 2015)
The spread of the viral infection Chikungunya continues with the CDC issuing a travel advisory for those traveling to Mexico, where over 7000 cases of the viral infection have been reported.
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Should Lupus Patients Receive Influenza and Pneumococcal Vaccines? (Best of 2015)
Barry Waters, MD*: I have a 21 yr old lupus nephritis patient on mycophenolate, hydroxychloroquine and prednisone 40 mg per day.
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Herpes Zoster Increases the Risk of Stroke and MI
At the 2015 ACR annual meeting in San Francisco, Len Calabrese, DO, of the Cleveland Clinic, gave a plenary session talk linking "shingles" infection to an increased risk of CVA (
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