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Depletion of normal B cells for ≥6 months after treatment with the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody rituximab is well established. Does the anti–B-cell effect of rituximab also affect vaccine response? To find out, investigators determined the serologic response to single-dose influenza A (H1N1) vaccination in lymphoma patients who were being treated, or had been treated within the past 6 months, with either single-agent rituximab or combination rituximab and chemotherapy. The researchers compared these responses with those in a control group of healthy volunteers.
Whereas 42 (82.4%) of 51 controls achieved a protective vaccine response, none of the 67 patients did so (5 patients achieved a detectable but nonprotective response of antibody tite…