Research from The University of Manchester has found a shortfall in the uptake of influenza and pneumococcal vaccinations among those diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), potentially increasing their infection risk.
The team from the Arthritis Research UK Centre for Epidemiology looked at data from over 15,000 patients diagnosed with the disease who were being treated with certain types of immunosuppressive drugs, and found that one in five patients received no influenza vaccinations and one in two patients received no pneumonia vaccine over a five year follow-up period.
