Infection News

In part two, Leonard Calabrese, DO, discusses the symptoms of long COVID and the role that rheumatologists play in diagnosing and treating patients with long COVID.

Three doses of either the BNT162b2 or mRNA-1273 vaccine are 87% effective at preventing hospitalization due to COVID-19 among patients taking immunosuppressive drugs, according to data published in The Lancet Rheumatology.

Pre-exposure prophylaxis with Evusheld, combined with aggressive outpatient treatment, may reduce COVID-19 severity in patients with immune-mediated inflammatory disease on B-cell depletion, according to a letter published in RMB Open.

Evusheld demonstrates reduced protection against the omicron subvariant BA.4.6, resulting in an increased risk for infection in those exposed to that COVID-19 strain, according to an updated FDA fact sheet.

Patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases demonstrate a lower, less durable COVID-19 vaccine response and are at risk for losing humoral immune protection, according to data published in The Lancet Rheumatology.

In this episode, Leonard H. Calabrese, DO, reviews the history and controversies of post-infection sequelae, as well as the facts and epidemiology of long COVID.

Post-COVID, or long COVID, can develop in approximately one in eight people with COVID-19, according to data published in The Lancet.

Infections are more common in patients with rheumatoid arthritis who receive tofacitinib compared with those who receive TNF inhibitors, according to data published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

After a third COVID-19 vaccine dose, patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases often fail to mount an effective response useful in preventing omicron breakthrough infection, according to data published in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

Regional socioeconomic conditions, air pollution, population mobility and the availability of health resources are all factors that impact the risk for death attributed to COVID-19 in patients with rheumatic diseases, according to data.