Prevention of Infection in Lupus Patients

Abstract

Despite the many advances in the treatment of systemic lupus erythematous (SLE), infection remains one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality of patients. The reasons for the high incidence of infection are immunosuppressive therapy and immune disturbances of lupus itself. Bacterial infections are most frequent, followed by viral and fungal infections. Vaccination is the most important tool in the prevention of infections specially influenza and Streptococcus pneumonia infections. Prophylaxis of tuberculosis and pneumocystosis are also recommended to prevent those deadly infections. In this review, we aim to give an overview of the prevention means of infections in SLE.