Vaccination of autologous stem cell transplant recipients with live varicella vaccine: a pilot study.

A pilot study of vaccination with live, attenuated varicella vaccine for prevention of zoster was performed in autologous stem cell transplant (SCT) recipients. Nine patients were vaccinated between 3-4 months after transplantation. The antigen-specific immune response was studied by lymphocyte proliferation. No systemic side effects were seen. One of nine patients developed herpes zoster HZ during follow-up. There was a tendency for a strengthened specific immune response after SCT ( p=0.12). This pilot study shows that vaccination with live, attenuated varicella vaccine can be performed safely 3-4 months after autologous stem cell transplantation. Additional studies are needed to assess efficacy of this approach in the prevention of HZ.