Bloodstream Infection Risk Associated with TNF-Inhibitor Therapy

It is well known that treatment with tumor necrosis factor-α inhibitors (TNFi) increases the risk for infection with Pneumocystis, Listeria, and tuberculosis. However, are these agents also associated with risk for other infections? To examine the risk for bloodstream infections (BSI), Danish researchers conducted a nationwide case-control study between 2010 and 2024 involving approximately 174,000 patients who had received TNFi within 6 months prior to a positive blood culture and more than 1.74 million age-, sex-, and comorbidity-matched controls.