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. 2021 Nov:56:103324.
doi: 10.1016/j.msard.2021.103324. Epub 2021 Oct 10.

The MuSC-19 study: The Egyptian cohort

Magd Zakaria  1 , Marta Ponzano  2 , Irene Schiavetti  2 , Luca Carmisciano  2 , Mona Nada  3 , Maged AbdelNaseer  3 , Dina Zamzam  4 , Janet Masoud  5 , Hany Aref  4 , Nevin Shalaby  3 , Azza AbdelNaser  4 , Sherif Hamdy  3 , Mahmoud Saad  4 , Hatem Shehata  3 , Mohamed Aly  4 , Nirmeen Kishk  3 , Eman Hamdy  6 , Amr Hassan  3 , Ahmed Hashish  7 , Sandra Ahmed  3 , Mohamed Foad  4 , Maria Pia Sormani  8
Affiliations

The MuSC-19 study: The Egyptian cohort

Magd Zakaria et al. Mult Scler Relat Disord. 2021 Nov.

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to report the severity of COVID-19 in a cohort of Egyptian patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) with particular attention on the impact of disease modifying drugs (DMDs).

Methods and study population: We included 119 MS patients recruited from two centers, Ain-Shams university and Cairo university with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 during the period from May to September 2020 as a part of the MuSC-19 project. Univariate logistic regression was fitted to assess risk factors for severe COVID-19 (at least one outcome among hospitalization, ICU admission and death).

Results: Females were 77%, mean age was 34 years, mean duration of MS was 5.28 years, median EDSS was 3, most of the patients (83%) had RRMS, while 15% and 2% had respectively SPMS and PPMS. Only eleven patients (9% of study population) had a severe outcome and 3 patients (3%) died. Headache was the only symptom significantly associated with the severity of COVID-19 (OR=10.85, P = 0.001). There was no association between any of the DMDs and severe COVID-19 outcome.

Conclusion: This study showed an acceptable safety profile of DMDs in Egyptian MS patients who developed COVID-19, as 91% of the cohort had a favorable outcome. Headache as a symptom associated with severe outcome in Egyptian patients' needs further validation.

Keywords: 15%; COVID-19; Egypt; MuSC19; Multiple sclerosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest in relation to this article. The MS units of Ain-Shams and Cairo universities are governmental institutes.

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