CLL and infection

Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) affects your immune system, so even if you don’t need treatment, you’re more likely to get infections.

Symptoms of an infection include:

• feeling hot or cold (a temperature that’s higher or lower than normal)
• sore throat
• cough producing green mucus
• frequent watery poos (diarrhoea)
• being sick (vomiting)
• feeling dizzy or faint
• headache or stiff neck
• skin feeling red, hot or swollen
• burning or stinging when you wee or passing a small amount
• pain, redness or discharge (fluid) around the site of a central line
• pain, itching or unusual discharge from your penis or vagina
• new pain anywhere in your body
• generally not feeling well.

If you’re having treatment for CLL, you should contact your hospital team if you have any symptoms of an infection. It’s very important to tell them straight away. Not only are infections easier to treat when they’re picked up early, but they can also be life-threatening if they’re left to get a hold. Find out who to contact if you think you have an infection and keep the details where you can easily find them.

If you don’t have access to your hospital team, try NHS 111 or go to A&E and tell them you’re having treatment for CLL.

If you’re on active monitoring (watch and wait), you may be able to see your GP instead.

We have more information about blood cancer and infection, including managing your risk of infection.

Watch our short video about infection symptoms and what to do:

You can reduce your risk of getting infections by getting all the vaccinations you are entitled to.

If you have CLL, even if you are not on treatment, you should avoid having live vaccines, but non-live vaccines should be safe for you.

Fortunately only a few vaccines used in the UK are live ones. The most commonly used live vaccine is the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine. The yellow fever vaccine, occasionally needed for travel to certain areas, is also live, so this should be avoided.

Doctors recommend that most people who are diagnosed with CLL get a shingles vaccine. In the UK, a non-live vaccine called Shingrix is now offered as standard, so you don’t need to worry about live shingles vaccinations. Ask your team about having the Shingrix vaccine if they don’t mention it first.

You may be advised to have seasonal flu and pneumococcal vaccinations as well, to protect you against serious infections. It is also safe to be vaccinated against covid-19, as none of the approved covid vaccines are live.

If you’re aged between 75 and 79, your doctor may suggest that you have the RSV vaccine too. This protects you from respiratory syncytial virus, a common virus that could make older adults seriously ill.

Vaccinations may not work as well as for someone with a healthy immune system but should offer some protection. Your healthcare team will be able to give you more information.

Read our information about covid vaccinations and how effective they may be for people with blood cancer.

If you are worried about your infection risk, speak to your GP or hospital team, or contact our Support Service free on 0808 2080 888 to talk things through.