[_twinkies_]

Shingles vaccine & stem cell donations

by _twinkies_ on Thu Jan 24, 2013 9:33 am

My uncle was due this week to begin the process of undergoing an allogeneic stem cell transplant with stem cells donated by my dad. They are identical twins, so my dad was chosen as the donor instead of doing an autologous transplant.

There is now a hiccup that may halt the transplant. My dad received the shingles vaccine in late December and they are saying that this may exclude him from donating.

In the brief time I have had to research, I saw that they do not recommend that vaccine for trans­plant patients, and I know that the vaccine would transfer to my uncle. But I cannot really find WHY they don't recommend it and what the real issue is.

Does anyone have any knowledge on this? If they choose to not do the transplant at this point, is it a lifetime exclusion, or just because he received it recently they would push it back? Any insight? We are at the mercy of the medical team right now to decide if they go forward or not

[Multibilly]

Re: Shingles vaccine & stem cell donations

by Multibilly on Thu Jan 24, 2013 10:18 am

Kind of curious. One, I didn't know that shingles was such a potentially common side effect of a transplant (20% of transplant patients develop shingles in 12-24 months after transplant). See article below.

http://www.wakehealth.edu/BeInvolved/StudyInfo.aspx?study=IRB00015097

Two, this article shows that they are actually investigating the potential benefits of an allogeneic transplant donor having the shingles shot prior to donation.

http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01573182

You might have better luck finding articles on shingles and bone marrow transplants if you substitute "herpes zoster" for "shingles" in your search

[_twinkies_]

Re: Shingles vaccine & stem cell donations

by _twinkies_ on Thu Jan 24, 2013 11:50 am

Thank you.

I finally was able to talk to my cousin and got the low down.

Evidently, standard practice is to wait 6 weeks after vaccination for transplant. It has been four. So worse case scenario is transplant is pushed back a couple weeks. Crappy since my dad has traveled for the procedure, but not awful.

They were warned that anyone who had recently had a "live" vaccine would not be allowed to visit after transplant, but did not say anything about issues prior to.

[joeyS]

Re: Shingles vaccine & stem cell donations

by joeyS on Thu Jan 24, 2013 2:30 pm

That 20% of transplant patients develop shingles 12-24 months after transplant - long after their blood counts have supposedly recovered - is one more testament to the debilitating long-term effects of transplants.

[Mark]

Re: Shingles vaccine & stem cell donations

by Mark on Thu Jan 24, 2013 3:08 pm

Hi Multibilly,

Shingles is a complication that is more likely to occur in anyone that has a poorly functioning immune system, which is all myeloma patients. I was on acyclovir to prevent shingles from the time I was diagnosed until about 14 months after my allo to prevent shingles.

Mark