Incidence and Risk Factors for Infections in Patient Treated With Corticosteroids, Immunosuppressive Drugs or Biotherapy for Immunologic and Inflammatory Diseases

Infections represent the first cause of death and of morbidity in people treated for immunologic and inflammatory diseases with corticosteroids, immunosuppressive drugs or biotherapy. Epidemiological, clinical, biological and therapeutic determinants of these infections are poorly understood. There is no recommendation for the prevention and treatment of infections in this particular field. Purpose : Recent therapeutic trials evaluating immunosuppressive and biotherapy (cyclophosphamide, mycophenolate mofetil, rituximab, belimumab) in the field of immunologic and inflammatory diseases have found a risk of severe infection of 7 to 18% during the first year after the beginning of the treatment. Thus, the main objective of the study is to describe the incidence and risk-factors for infections in people treated with such agents for immunologic and inflammatory diseases.