Vaccine Preventable Illness after Blinatumomab Therapy: A Case Report

The use of blinatumomab for treatment of B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has demonstrated efficacy in adults, which has resulted in wider use within the pediatric population. While the side effects have been fairly well-established in the adult population, they have not been well studied in pediatric patients. We describe a case of a 3-year-old fully vaccinated male with high throughput sequencing minimal residual disease positive B-Cell ALL after induction therapy treated with blinatumomab who subsequently experienced two separate episodes of Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteremia. Our patient’s clinical course raises the question whether blinatumomab increases the risk of vaccine-preventable illnesses in pediatric patients with leukemia.