What safety measures should you take when your child is using rituximab?
Tell the doctor or dentist that your child is taking rituximab before your child has any operation, even on the teeth, or an emergency treatment.
Keep all appointments at the clinic or doctor's office so that the doctor can check your child's response to rituximab.
Rituximab may make your child dizzy, drowsy, and less alert than normal. Watch carefully when your child is doing something that they need to be alert for, such as climbing stairs.
Rituximab can lower the number of white blood cells in the blood temporarily, which increases your child's chances of getting an infection. Your child can take the following precautions to prevent infections, especially when the blood count is low:
- Avoid people with infections, such as a cold or the flu.
- Be careful when brushing or flossing your child's teeth. Your doctor, nurse, or dentist may suggest different ways to clean your child's mouth and teeth.
- You/your child shouldn't touch your child's eyes or inside their nose without washing you/your child's hands first.
- Your child's nurse will review with you what to do in case of fever.
Your child should not receive any immunizations (vaccines) without your child's doctor's approval. Your child or anyone else in your household should not get oral polio vaccine while your child is being treated with rituximab. Tell your child's doctor if anyone in your household has recently received oral polio vaccine. Your child should avoid contact with anyone who has recently received this vaccine.
Hepatitis B testing may be suggested for your child. Unrecognized hepatitis B infection may become worse during rituximab treatment.
Blood pressure medications may affect your child's response to rituximab. Check with your child's doctor if your child is taking anything to control blood pressure.
Check with your child's doctor or pharmacist before giving your child any other medicines (prescription, non-prescription, herbal, or natural products).
