Infection News

Approximately 84% of patients with autoimmune diseases develop antibodies from the COVID-19 vaccine, compared with 98.1% of healthy health care workers, according to an interim analysis published in MedRxiv.

The FDA has issued an emergency use authorization for tocilizumab to treat hospitalized patients receiving corticosteroids who require supplemental oxygen, mechanical ventilation or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, according to a press release.

Anakinra safely reduces the need for invasive mechanical ventilation and mortality risk in patients with COVID-19 who are hospitalized, but non-intubated, according to a meta-analysis published in Rheumatology.

Treatment with tofacitinib led to a lower risk for death or respiratory failure through day 28, compared with placebo, in patients hospitalized with COVID-19 pneumonia, according to data published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

On May 22 to 23, I hosted the ninth biennial Biologics Therapies Summit at the Cleveland Clinic — virtually. To say the least, it was very different from past summits.

The time warp of COVID-19 has offered yet another twist. As acute infections and the associated fatalities have finally begun to ebb in the United States, a new phase of the pandemic has emerged: the long-hauler phase.

A study of patients who received care at Veterans Affairs centers found that rheumatoid arthritis is linked to a 25% higher risk for COVID-19, and a 35% increased risk for related hospitalization and death, according to data.

Patients with psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis treated with ustekinumab demonstrated a 1.4- to 3-times lower risk for hospitalization with serious infections than those who received other biologics or apremilast, according to data.

Rheumatology follow-up visit cancellations climbed to 60% during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and were more common for older, rural, Black and Hispanic patients, as well as those of lower socioeconomic status, according to data.

Adverse events were rare and mild in patients with rheumatic diseases who received a COVID-19 vaccine, according to data from the EULAR–COVID-19 Registry presented at the EULAR 2021 Congress.