ABSTRACT
A case with rheumatoid arthritis and insufficient compensation under disease-modifying combined long-term therapy with methotrexate and leflunomide is reported. After recovery from a COVID-19 infection, a tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor therapy was initiated. Until now no reactivation of the COVID-19 infection with positive SARS-CoV2 antibody status has occurred.
Subject(s)
Antibodies, Viral/blood , Arthritis, Rheumatoid/drug therapy , Biological Therapy , Coronavirus Infections/complications , Pneumonia, Viral/complications , Arthritis, Rheumatoid/virology , Betacoronavirus , COVID-19 , Humans , Leflunomide/therapeutic use , Methotrexate/therapeutic use , Pandemics , SARS-CoV-2 , Tumor Necrosis Factor Inhibitors/therapeutic use , Virus ActivationABSTRACT
The current COVID-19 pandemic inherits an unprecedented challenge for the treating rheumatologists. On the one hand, antirheumatic drugs can increase the risk of infection and potentially deteriorate the course of an infection. On the other hand, an active inflammatory rheumatic disease can also increase the risk for an infection. In the recommendations of the German Society for Rheumatology (www.dgrh.de), it is recommended that our patients continue the antirheumatic therapy to maintain remission or low state of activity despite the pandemic. In this study, patients with inflammatory rheumatic disease were asked in the first weeks of the pandemic on their opinion of their immunomodulating therapy. The result shows that over 90% of the patients followed the recommendation of the rheumatologist to continue the antirheumatic therapy, and only a small percentage of the patients terminated the therapy on their own. This result was independent of the individual anti-rheumatic therapy. Taken together, the results of this study illustrate not only the trustful patient-physician partnership in a threatening situation but also the high impact of state-of-the art recommendations by the respective scientific society.