SynthesisRheumatology (Oxford, England)2021
The risk of infections in adult patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Rheumatology (Oxford, England), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 52 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
52 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 93 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Organ involvement and laboratory abnormalities associated with tuberculosis disease in systemic lupus erythematosus patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Annals of medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Risk factors for infections in systemic lupus erythematosus: a meta-analysis.Immunologic research · 2025Pooled it
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of the diagnostic accuracy of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio in systemic lupus erythematosus.Clinical and experimental medicine · 2024Pooled it
- Incidence and prevalence of tuberculosis in systemic lupus erythematosus patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in immunology · 2022Pooled it
- Central nervous system infections in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Lupus science & medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Safety profile of baricitinib in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: an integrated analysis.RMD open · 2023Trial
- Safety profile of anifrolumab in patients with active SLE: an integrated analysis of phase II and III trials.Lupus science & medicine · 2021Trial
- An explainable machine learning model for predicting in-hospital infection in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.Renal failure · 2026Article
- Vaccination in systemic lupus erythematosus.Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics · 2026Review
- From awareness to action: Overcoming knowledge gaps and enhancing herpes zoster vaccination counseling among Chinese rheumatologists - Results from a nationwide survey.Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics · 2026Article
- Double Trouble: An Uncommon Case of Ocular Toxoplasmosis in a Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) Patient.Cureus · 2026Article
- Series 3: From Infection to Disease: A Global Scoping Review of Medical and Behavioural Determinants of Progression from TB Infection to TB Disease.Tropical medicine and infectious disease · 2026Review
- Article
- Inappropriate Antimicrobial Regimen Leading to RecurrentInfection and drug resistance · 2026Article
- Article
- Accelerated immunosenescence in SLE: current evidence and clinical translation.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Burden of herpes zoster among patients with systemic lupus erythematosus in the USA.Lupus science & medicine · 2025Article
- Comparison of the immunogenicity and safety among COVID-19 vaccines ChadOx-1, CoronaVac and BNT162b2 in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients: a prospective cohort.Advances in rheumatology (London, England) · 2025Article
- Vitamin D as an Immune Modulator in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A Narrative Review.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesWe conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the magnitude of infection risk in patients with SLE and evaluate the effect of general and SLE-related factors on infection risk.
methodsWe searched MEDLINE and Embase from inception to July 2018, screening for observational studies that evaluated infection risk in patients with SLE compared with the general population/healthy controls. Outcomes of interest included overall severe infection, herpes zoster infection/reactivation, opportunistic infections, pneumonia and tuberculosis. Random-effects models were used to calculate pooled risk ratios (RRs) for each type of infection. Sensitivity analysis assessed the impact of removing studies with high risk of bias.
resultsEleven retrospective or prospective cohort studies were included in the meta-analysis: overall severe infection (n = 4), pneumonia (n = 6), tuberculosis (n = 3) and herpes zoster (n = 2). Pooled RRs for overall severe infection significantly increased for patients with SLE compared with the general population/healthy controls [RR 2.96 (95% CI 1.28, 6.83)]. Pooled RRs for pneumonia, herpes zoster and tuberculosis showed significantly increased risk compared with the general population/healthy controls [RR 2.58 (1.80, 3.70), 2.50 (2.36, 2.65) and 6.11 (3.61, 10.33), respectively]. Heterogeneity and evidence of publication bias were present for all analyses, except herpes zoster. Sensitivity analyses confirmed robustness of the results.
conclusionPatients with SLE have significantly higher risk of infection compared with the general population/healthy controls. Efforts to strengthen strategies aimed at preventing infections in SLE are needed. PROTOCOL REGISTRATION: PROSPERO number: CRD42018109425.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.