COVID-19 Ills No Greater for Those With Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis

FRIDAY, Sept. 4, 2020 (HealthDay Information)

Individuals with lupus are not at enhanced risk of hospitalization from COVID-19 due to steroidal remedies they consider to lessen immune program action, a new examine finds.

And a connected examine discovered that persons with inflammatory sorts of arthritis — these types of as rheumatoid arthritis — are not a lot more very likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 than persons devoid of arthritis.

Both equally experiments were being led by scientists at NYU Grossman University of Drugs, in New York Town.

The findings “must reassure most sufferers, especially these on immunosuppressant treatment, that they are at no better risk of getting to be admitted to healthcare facility from COVID-19 than other lupus or arthritis sufferers,” Dr. Ruth Fernandez-Ruiz, co-writer of the experiments, reported in an NYU Langone information launch.

“Individuals with lupus or inflammatory arthritis have the exact same risk components for receiving critically ill from COVID-19 as persons devoid of these disorders,” reported Fernandez-Ruiz, a postdoctoral fellow in rheumatology.

Lupus and situations like rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and spondyloarthritis are autoimmune illnesses in which the immune program mistakenly assaults a person’s very own tissues. This brings about irritation in the joints, skin, kidneys and other sections of the body.

The scientists discovered that lupus sufferers getting immune-suppressing remedies — these types of as mycophenolate mofetil (CellCept) and azathioprine (Imuran) — had no better risk of hospitalization (fifteen out of 24) than lupus sufferers not using the remedies (9 of 17).

In addition, the COVID-19 hospitalization amount for persons with inflammatory arthritis (26%) was equivalent to that of New York Town residents in general (twenty five%).

Another discovering was that sufferers getting biologic drugs for arthritis, these types of as adalimumab (Humira) and etanercept (Enbrel), or the antiviral hydroxychloroquine, had no better or reduce risk of COVID-19 hospitalization than these not getting the drugs.

But sufferers who took steroids identified as glucocorticoids, even in mild doses, had a 10 instances larger risk of COVID-19 hospitalization than these who failed to consider steroids. Although the discovering is statistically considerable, the study’s smaller measurement could overestimate the precise risk, the scientists observed.

The experiments were being lately printed online in the journal Arthritis and Rheumatology.

— Robert Preidt

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References

Supply: NYU Langone, information launch, Aug. twenty five, 2020