Infections and biologic therapy in rheumatoid arthritis: our changing understanding of risk and prevention

Abstract

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis are at higher risk for serious infections and death from infection than the general public. Prednisone and biologic agents increase this risk, although the risk associated with biologics can be mitigated when such agents act as prednisone-sparing therapies. Some of the important causes of infectious morbidity in this setting are preventable with screening (eg, tuberculosis) or vaccination (eg, herpes zoster).