Autoimmune And Rheumatic Diseases

Last July, I wrote an editorial entitled “The rheumatologist, the third inning of COVID-19 and the importance of masks.” Thinking back and wondering where we are now, I would say the top of the eighth!

There is tired, and there is fatigue. Then there is fatigue associated with a rheumatic or autoimmune disease, which is multifactorial and debilitating and has confounded physicians and patients for decades.

While certain rheumatology drugs are associated with increased hospitalizations in COVID-19, individuals with rheumatologic diseases largely experience outcomes comparable to general population, according to a presenter at the Biologic Therapies Summit.

Quit Connect, an electronic health record protocol for referring rheumatology patients to tobacco quit lines implemented by staff at the University of Wisconsin, increased referrals 26-fold over a 6-month period, according to data.

Studies that feature work participation as an outcome in patients with inflammatory arthritis should identify key contextual factors — such as job type or social security system — upfront, according to new “points to consider” from EULAR.

Maternal ankylosing spondylitis is associated with a 2.02-times higher likelihood of Kawasaki disease in the offspring, according to a research letter published in JAMA Network Open.

Emerging data are showing solid efficacy and safety of COVID-19 vaccines in individuals with rheumatic and immune-mediated diseases, according to a presentation at the United Rheumatology Spring Virtual conference.

If anyone still believed that social media is just a benign way for friends near and far to connect, that notion died with COVID-19.

As we enter year 2 of the pandemic with some glimmers of hope that we may be seeing the beginning of the end, rheumatology as a field has been heavily engaged in the fight against SARS-CoV-2.

Rituximab was associated with more severe COVID-19 in patients with inflammatory rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases, according to data published in The Lancet Rheumatology.