Correction
The article ‘Autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases: vaccines are important’ by Jang Yoon, Matthew O’Sullivan and Peter K.K. Wong, which was published in the April 2024 issue of Medicine Today (pages 53 to 56), contains some errors. A Key Point stated that ‘Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs and other biological therapy must be ceased before vaccination’. This statement is incorrect and has now been deleted. In the section on herpes zoster on page 54, the text stated that ‘Individuals without prior varicella infection are not at risk of HZ and would not benefit from receiving Shingrix or Zostavax’. Based on reader feedback, the text now clarifies that ‘Individuals without prior varicella infection are not at risk of HZ reactivation. In these individuals, Zostavax is contraindicated because of the risk of dissemination from this live vaccine’.
We apologise for these errors and any confusion they may have caused. The online version and fulltext PDF of this article are correct at https://medicinetoday.com.au/mt/2024/april/regular-series/autoimmune-inflammatory-rheumatic-diseases-vaccines-are-important.