Infection News

About 29% of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus demonstrate low response to the COVID-19 vaccine, with immunosuppression therapy associated with decreased protection, according to data published in Arthritis & Rheumatology.

The American College of Rheumatology has updated its COVID-19 vaccine clinical guidance for patients with rheumatic diseases to recommend a third dose of the mRNA vaccine in those receiving immunosuppressive or immunomodulatory therapy.

After the FDA granted full approval to the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, the AAP strongly discouraged providers from administering it off-label to children aged younger than 12 years.

In a first, the FDA today approved the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for people aged 16 years or older.

I am going to make this editorial short and sweet. Last month, I wrote at some length that we appeared to be in the eighth inning of the baseball game that is COVID-19, looking longingly at the end and victory. Things were looking good — and why not? Case rates were plummeting and we as a nation were reopening.

Demand for tocilizumab IV has outpaced the global supply, exacerbated by increased demand following the drug’s emergency use authorization for COVID-19 and the surge in delta variant cases, the American College of Rheumatology reported.

Rheumatologists need to start focusing on their fully vaccinated patients with breakthrough COVID-19 cases, and begin referring them for monoclonal treatment, according to Leonard Calabrese, DO.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, rheumatologists have experienced a dramatic expansion of their typical roles, taking on attributes of immunologists and virtualists to effectively manage care, according to a presenter here.

In a session here, attendees heard global perspectives from their rheumatology colleagues in Australia, Canada, Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, Brazil and India.

So long as COVID-19 continues to spread and develop variants around the world, no one — even those in areas with high vaccine coverage — can be safe, according to Dan Barouch, MD, PhD, whose lab helped develop the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.