PEGASYS and live vaccines

[Quercus53]

Hi everyone, hope you are all getting back into a more normal life.

I have started travelling again and because of this I need to have a Yellow Fever vaccine, as I'm travelling to Guyana and later on to Colombia, both having nasty mozzies carrying malaria, Zika and Yellow Fever.

I was wondering, first of all, if anyone has had a YF or other live vaccine whilst being treated with PEGASYS?

Also wondering if it would be possible to take a short break from PEGASYS in order to have the vaccine. So, does anyone know how long PEGASYS stays active in the body and, if so, how long would I have to leave it after having the YF vaccine before I started up the PEGASYS again.

I suspect my specialist will not be able to answer these questions, so I am turning to my friends on this forum for realtime advice!

Thanks

xxxx

[hunter5582]

Pegasys does not come up with the same contraindication for live viruses that hydroxyurea does. That does not mean that you should not be asking this question however. Pegasys can suppress your immune system and theoretically may impact how you react to the vaccine. In checking the drug interactions for Yellow Fever vaccine, Pegasys does not flag as a concern with the yellow fever vaccine. Hydroxyurea does trigger a contraindication.

Additional Considerations

peginterferon alfa 2a in Pegasys

when used to treat HCV, caution advised w/ narrow therapeutic index drugs extensively metabolized in the liver; viral eradication may improve hepatic metabolic function, decr. levels, efficacy of concomitant drugs

hydroxyurea (generic) + yellow fever vaccine, live (generic)

contraindicated; vaccinate >4wk before or >3mo after immunosuppressive tx: combo may result in inadequate immunologic response to vaccine; may incr. risk of disseminated infection (immunosuppressive effects)

online.epocrates.com/intera...

You can check Drugs.com as well.

Pegasys - Yellow fever Vaccine

No interactions were found between the drugs in your list. However, this does not necessarily mean no interactions exist. Always consult your healthcare provider.

drugs.com/interactions-chec...

As the website says, you need to check with your provider. I would be sure to consult a MPN Specialist on this issue. Possibly with an immunologist as well. Your treatment team can best advise you about whether a PEG-vacation would be indicated when receiving the vaccines.

Hope that helps.

[Quercus53 in reply to hunter5582]

Thanks Hunter, as usual a mine of information xx