NSAIDs can make vaccines less effective.

  Many vaccines can cause irritation, pain, and/or redness at the injection site, leading patients to take ibuprofen, aspirin, etc. Now some research suggests that taking NSAIDs around the time of vaccination dampens the immune response.

  It's theorized that blocking B-cell COX-2 activity during vaccination reduces the production of antibodies necessary for the vaccine to be effective.

  But the findings are based on an animal study and an in-vitro study of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. These studies only looked at antibody levels...NOT whether the vaccines were effective in preventing disease. In fact, many participants in the HPV trials were taking NSAIDs at the time of vaccination. Yet that vaccine still provided complete protection against infection from HPV strains covered by the vaccine.