When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, rheumatologists were flooded with phone calls and messages from worried patients with SLE. No one knew for sure whether continuing with their medications would put the patients at higher risk for poor COVID-19 outcomes.
Researchers have paid increasingly close attention to potential coronavirus disease (COVID-19) risks among patients with preexisting conditions or taking specific medications. Among patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and inflammatory arthritis (IA), two new studies by NYU Langone Health clinicians have provided some valuable answers to two big questions.
Immunosuppressants prescribed for the autoimmune conditions, they found, do not significantly alter the risk for worse COVID-19 outcomes. Nor do the patients themselves appear to have risk factors materially different from those of the general population, though expanding study cohorts will offer greater clarity.
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