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Polymyalgia rheumatica - Management
Basis for recommendation
- CKS recommends this advice which reflects good medical practice.
- The recommendation regarding exposure to chickenpox while taking corticosteroids is based on advice from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency [MHRA, 2007].
- Prolonged courses of corticosteroids increase susceptibility to, and severity of, infection. Unless people taking long-term corticosteroids have had chickenpox, they should be regarded as being at risk of severe chickenpox. Manifestations of fulminant illness include pneumonia, hepatitis, and disseminated intravascular coagulation [BNF 56, 2008].
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