From: Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism, February 2004, Volume 33, Number 4

Pneumococcal disease is a serious disease caused by bacterium that enters through the lungs and can lead to other serious diseases including pneumonia and meningitis. Recently, a study was performed in order to asses the effect of TNF-a therapies on pneumococcal vaccination in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis.

The study revealed that patients treated with TNF-a blockade therapies are not put at risk by having a pneumococcal vaccination, thus pneumococcal vaccination before starting TNF-a therapy is recommended.