PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Rákóczi, Éva AU - Szekanecz, Zoltan TI - Pneumococcal vaccination in autoimmune rheumatic diseases AID - 10.1136/rmdopen-2017-000484 DP - 2017 Sep 01 TA - RMD Open PG - e000484 VI - 3 IP - 2 4099 - http://rmdopen.bmj.com/content/3/2/e000484.short 4100 - http://rmdopen.bmj.com/content/3/2/e000484.full SO - RMD Open2017 Sep 01; 3 AB - Streptococcus pneumoniae is the leading cause of the community-acquired pneumonia. The mortality rate of invasive pneumococcal infections is high. Immunocompromised patients suffering from autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases (AIRD) have a high risk for acquiring these infections. Protection against infection can be improved with vaccination. After using polysaccharide vaccines (PPV-23), in July 2013, a 13-valent conjugate vaccine (PCV-13) was approved for adults. Due to its conjugate form, this vaccine is the recommended choice in pneumococcal vaccine-naive patients. PCV-13 is also recommended in patients previously receiving PPV-23. Vaccination in AIRD is very important and needs deliberate scheduling to coordinate with the immunosuppressive therapy. Here, based on international and national vaccine guidelines, we provide a current review of PPV-23 and PCV-13 vaccines for specialists following patients with AIRD.