Studies and case reports on the efficacy and/or safety of live attenuated measles, mumps, rubella or varicella vaccine in children on immunosuppressive drugs following solid organ, bone marrow or stem cell transplants were eligible for inclusion.
In included studies, patients had received liver, renal and cardiac organ transplants. Age at immunisation with the live vaccines varied, with children (four to 218 months) and adults (36 and 60 years). Most studies assessed the varicella vaccine; the remainder assessed either the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine or the measles vaccine. Times to immunisation post-transplant were varied (range 1.5 to 201 months). Immunosuppressive regimens administered were varied and included single or combination regimens of cyclosporine, prednisone, tacrolimus, azathioprine, FK506, sirolimus, and mycophenolate. Methods of measuring immunoglobulin G titres (ELISA, solid phase fluorescent immunoassay, etc), and cut-offs for titres considered to be immune, were varied.
The authors did not state how the papers were selected for the review, or how many reviewers performed the selection.