Biologic Treatment Recommendations for Rheumatic Disease Patients Who Contract COVID-19

Of those 19 patients, four—or 21%—died. That translates to 1.2 deaths per 100 patient-years, Dr. Gonzalez said. That percentage of deaths was higher than the 12% who died across all COVID-19 hospital admissions, but was not a statistically significant difference, he said.

Continue Treatment
“It seems reasonable,” Dr. Gonzalez said, “that patients with inflammatory diseases treated with bio DMARDS or targeted synthetic DMARDs continue their treatment during the COVID-19 epidemic.”

Thomas R. Collins is a freelance writer living in South Florida.

Reference

Gianfrancesco M, Hyrich KL, Al-Adely S, et al. Characteristics associated with hospitalization for COVID-19 in people with rheumatic disease: Data from the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance physician-reported registry. Ann Rheum Dis. 2020 Jul;79(7):859–866.

New concepts in autoimmunity & immunology are being discovered daily in research being conducted to understand the SARS-CoV-2 virus and its implications for rheumatology & all fields of medicine. Here are some insights shared by experts during day 1 of the Basic and Clinical Research Conference.

Findings support the continued use of TNF inhibitor monotherapy in individuals with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases. In the study, these patients had a lower risk of hospitalization or death caused by COVID-19 than patients on other commonly prescribed treatment regimens

The Global Rheumatology Alliance is an important tool for assessing COVID-19 risk, & the ACR COVID-19 Task Force provides treatment guidance to rheumatology practitioners.

An analysis of data from the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance registry shows that use of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs did not increase the risk of hospitalization for COVID-19 patients with rheumatic disease, but steroid use did.

The Many Facets of COVID-19: Experts Address Basic & Clinical Research Concepts in the COVID-19 Era

Risk of Adverse Outcomes Due to COVID-19 May Be Lower with TNF Inhibitor Monotherapy

COVID-19 Risks & Treatment for Patients with Rheumatic Disease

COVID-19: Most Individuals with Rheumatic Disease Recover

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