ArticleMultiple sclerosis and related disorders2020
B-cell depleting therapies may affect susceptibility to acute respiratory illness among patients with multiple sclerosis during the early COVID-19 epidemic in Iran.
Article in Multiple sclerosis and related disorders, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 98 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
98 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 145 citations in OpenAlex.
- COVID-19: The Course, Vaccination and Immune Response in People with Multiple Sclerosis: Systematic Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Pooled it
- Risk of COVID-19 infection and severe disease in MS patients on different disease-modifying therapies.Multiple sclerosis and related disorders · 2022Pooled it
- Systematic review of risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and severity of COVID-19 with therapies approved to treat multiple sclerosis.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2022Pooled it
- The prevalence of COVID-19 infection in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS): a systematic review and meta-analysis.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2021Pooled it
- COVID-19 Among Patients With Multiple Sclerosis: A Systematic Review.Neurology(R) neuroimmunology & neuroinflammation · 2021Pooled it
- COVID-19 and disease-modifying therapies in patients with demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system: A systematic review.Multiple sclerosis and related disorders · 2021Pooled it
- Coronavirus disease 2019 and neurodegenerative disease: what will the future bring?Current opinion in psychiatry · 2021Pooled it
- Interferon-β treatment reverses the detrimental effect of B-cell depletion therapy on respiratory virus infection.Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950) · 2025Article
- Molecule Formats of B-Cell Targeting Biologics: Applications in Autoimmune Disease Treatment and Impacts on Manufacturability.Pharmaceutics · 2025Review
- MS treatment trends before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic: insights from the German MS Register.Journal of neurology · 2025Article
- A multi-centre longitudinal study analysing multiple sclerosis disease-modifying therapy prescribing patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic.Journal of neurology · 2024Article
- Vaccination status and self-reported side effects after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in relation to psychological and clinical variables in patients with multiple sclerosis.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- A new perspective on therapies involving B-cell depletion in autoimmune diseases.Molecular biology reports · 2024Article
- Use of chronic medications and risk of death due to COVID-19 in hospitalised patients.European journal of hospital pharmacy : science and practice · 2024Article
- COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage and Associated Factors in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis.Vaccines · 2024Article
- Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis under Disease-Modifying Therapies: A Multi-Centre Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
- Risk of breakthrough COVID-19 after vaccination among people with multiple sclerosis on disease-modifying therapies.Journal of neurology · 2023Article
- Immune responses following COVID-19 infection in multiple sclerosis patients using immunomodulatory therapy.Acta neurologica Belgica · 2023Article
- Fear of re-infection, relapse, and anxiety during COVID-19 pandemic in patients with multiple sclerosis: A multi-center study.Current journal of neurology · 2023Article
- The Impact of Immune-Modulating Treatments for Dermatological Diseases on the Risk of Infection with SARS-CoV-2 and Outcomes Associated with COVID-19 Illness.Current dermatology reports · 2023Review
38 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo determine whether the course of COVID-19 is more severe in patients with MS and if MS disease-modifying treatments (DMTs) affect the risk of contracting the disease.
methodsIn a cross-sectional survey, data were collected by sending a questionnaire to 2000 patients with a demyelinating disease through an online portal system. Collected data included the current MS DMT and patient-reported disability level, history of recent sick contact, recent fever, respiratory symptoms, diagnosis with COVID-19, and the disposition after the diagnosis. We defined a COVID-19-suspect group as patients having fever and cough or fever and shortness of breath, or a presumptive diagnosis based on suggestive chest computed tomography. We calculated the proportion of COVID-19-suspect patients and compared their demographics, clinical characteristics, and DMT categories with the rest of survey-responders, using univariable and multivariable models.
resultsOut of 712 patients, 34 (4.8%) fulfilled our criteria for being in the COVID-19-suspect group. Only two patients required hospitalization. No patient required intensive care. In a multivariable model, disease duration (p-value=0.017), DMT category (p-value=0.030), and history of sick contact (p-values<0.001) were associated with the risk of being in the COVID-19-suspect group. Being on B-cell depleting antibodies (as compared to non-cell depleting, non-cell trafficking inhibitor DMTs) was associated with a 2.6-fold increase in the risk of being in the COVID-19-suspect group. (RR: 3.55, 95%CI: 1.45, 8.68, p-value=0.005).
conclusionsThe course of infection in patients with MS suspected of having COVID-19 was mild to moderate, and all patients had a full recovery. B-cell depleting antibodies may increase the susceptibility to contracting COVID-19.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.