TY - JOUR T1 - Safety of measles, mumps and rubella vaccination in juvenile idiopathic arthritis JF - Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases JO - Ann Rheum Dis SP - 1384 LP - 1387 DO - 10.1136/ard.2006.063586 VL - 66 IS - 10 AU - Marloes W Heijstek AU - Gecilmara C S Pileggi AU - Evelien Zonneveld-Huijssoon AU - Wineke Armbrust AU - Esther P A H Hoppenreijs AU - Cuno S P M Uiterwaal AU - Wietse Kuis AU - Nico M Wulffraat Y1 - 2007/10/01 UR - http://ard.bmj.com/content/66/10/1384.abstract N2 - Objective: To assess the effect of measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination on disease activity in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).Methods: A retrospective observational multicentre cohort study was performed in 314 patients with JIA, born between 1989 and 1996. Disease activity and medication use were compared during the period of 6 months before vaccination versus 6 months after vaccination. Disease activity was measured by joint counts, the Physician’s global assessment scale and erythrocyte sedimentation rate. Next, we compared disease activity in patients vaccinated between 8 and 9 years of age with the activity in patients who had not been vaccinated at this time (who received MMR between the ages of 9 and 10 years).Results: No increase in disease activity or medication use was seen in the 6 months after MMR vaccination (n = 207), including in patients using methotrexate (n = 49). No overt measles infections were noted. When disease activity in vaccinated patients (n = 108) was compared with activity in those not yet vaccinated (n = 86), there were no significant differences.Conclusions: The MMR booster vaccination does not seem to aggravate disease activity in JIA. This indicates that the most patients with JIA can be vaccinated safely with the MMR vaccine. A prospective study is recommended. ER -