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. 2020 Nov;33(6):e14204.
doi: 10.1111/dth.14204. Epub 2020 Sep 14.

Effect of immunosuppressive drugs in immune-mediated inflammatory disease during the coronavirus pandemic

Federica Giuliani  1 , Giulio Gualdi  1   2 , Paolo Amerio  1   2
Affiliations

Effect of immunosuppressive drugs in immune-mediated inflammatory disease during the coronavirus pandemic

Federica Giuliani et al. Dermatol Ther. 2020 Nov.

Abstract

The safety of immunosuppressive treatment in patients with Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases (IMIDs) during the Coronavirus pandemic is questioned and it is utmost important for public health. We searched studies trough MEDLINE/EMBASE database, including patient with IMID, undergoing immunosuppressive treatment with a positive diagnosis for SARS-CoV 2. We included 11 studies for the descriptive analysis and 10 studies for the pooled analysis, with a total population of 57 and 53 IMID-affected SARS-CoV-positive patients respectively. Overall no death was reported; 16 patients were hospitalized (30.2%) and only two cases were admitted to Intensive Care Unit (ICU) (3.8%). We found a significant association between the risk of hospitalization and older age (P .03), obesity (P .02), and presence of multi-comorbidity (P .03). No significant association was found between the risk of hospitalization and the use of biological or conventional DMARDs (respectively P .32 and .26), neither when they are used combined (P .85). We found consistent results in the sub-analysis of Psoriasis: 10 patients were hospitalized (31.3%) and only one case was admitted to Intensive Care Unit (ICU) (3.1%) Particular attention should be placed for patients with older age, obesity and multi-comorbidity that are at higher risk of hospitalization.

Keywords: biologic; coronavirus; immune-mediate inflammatory disease; immunosuppressive drugs; psoriasis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Flow‐diagram chart of study selection and inclusion
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Algorithm proposal for psoriasis therapy management during COVID‐19 era
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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