ArticleClinical rheumatology2021
Risk of COVID-19 infection in patients with rheumatic disease taking disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs.
Article in Clinical rheumatology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Real-world immune response to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in Thai patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: a cross-sectional observational study.Lupus science & medicine · 2025Observational
- Monitoring of Patients Receiving Immunosuppressive and Biological Agent Treatments for Infectious Complications.Infectious diseases & clinical microbiology · 2025Article
- Predicting higher risk factors for COVID-19 short-term reinfection in patients with rheumatic diseases: a modeling study based on XGBoost algorithm.Journal of translational medicine · 2024Article
- Prevalence and Risk Factors of COVID-19 Reinfection in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Retrospective Observational Study.Yonsei medical journal · 2024Observational
- Analysis of related factors for RA flares after SARS-CoV-2 infection: a retrospective study from patient survey.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases versus family controls: a multi-city cross-sectional survey.Rheumatology international · 2024Article
- Attitudes and beliefs towards COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccination among rheumatology patients in a Los Angeles County safety net clinic.BMC rheumatology · 2023Article
- Review
- COVID-19 Infection in Rheumatic Patients on Chronic Antimalarial Drugs: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Review
- Article
- Antirheumatic Drug Intake Influence on Occurrence of COVID-19 Infection in Ambulatory Patients with Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases: A Cohort Study.Rheumatology and therapy · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
objectivePatients with rheumatic disease taking long-term disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) are expected to have a higher risk of infection due to the alterations in cellular immunity associated with these medications. However, the potential risks associated with these drugs remain unclear. This study aimed to estimate the risk of COVID-19 infection in patients with rheumatic disease taking disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs.
methodsPatients with autoimmune rheumatic disease taking DMARDs with or without long-term (> 6 months) HCQ treatment prior to the COVID-19 outbreak were selected consecutively. The diagnosis of COVID-19 was made based on the history of symptoms suggestive of the disease and/or serum IgG positivity. During statistical analysis, the risk of COVID-19 infection was calculated in rheumatic patients taking DMARDs versus controls, as well as in patients taking HCQ versus those who are not. The ORs and 95% CIs were also calculated. The participants in the control group were selected from individuals without RD.
resultsA total of 800 patients with RD and 449 controls were analyzed. COVID-19 infection was detected in 16.8% of rheumatic patients versus 17.6% of controls (OR 0.95; 95% CI 0.7-1.28). The proportions of COVID-19 infection in HCQ users versus non-users were 15.3% and 18.1%, respectively (OR 0.87; 95% CI 0.61-1.26). These results remained unchanged after adjusting for all covariates using logistic regression analysis.
conclusionThese findings indicate that rheumatic patients taking DMARDs are not at a higher risk of COVID-19 infection, and that HCQ therapy has no influence on the risk of COVID-19 infection. Key points • The risk of COVID-19 infection is not higher in patients with RD on DMARD therapy. • The prevalence of COVID-19 infection in HCQ users has not significant difference relative to non-users. • Significant percent of RD patients taking DMARDs had asymptomatic infection. • There was a positive association between leflunamide therapy and the risk of COVID-19 infection.
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