Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies in Multiple Sclerosis: The Hidden Part of the Iceberg.
J Clin Med
; 9(12)2020 Dec 16.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1024590
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
We compared the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 IgG/IgM in multiple sclerosis (MS), low-risk, and high-risk populations and explored possible clinical correlates.METHODS:
In this cross-sectional study, we recruited MS patients, low-risk (university staff from non-clinical departments), and high-risk individuals (healthcare staff from COVID-19 wards) from 11 May to 15 June 2020. We used lateral flow immunoassay to detect SARS-CoV-2 IgG and IgM. We used t-test, Fisher's exact test, chi square test, or McNemar's test, as appropriate, to evaluate between-group differences.RESULTS:
We recruited 310 MS patients (42.3 ± 12.4 years; females 67.1%), 862 low-risk individuals (42.9 ± 13.3 years; females 47.8%), and 235 high-risk individuals (39.4 ± 10.9 years; females 54.5%). The prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 IgG/IgM in MS patients (n = 9, 2.9%) was significantly lower than in the high-risk population (n = 25, 10.6%) (p < 0.001), and similar to the low-risk population (n = 11, 1.3%) (p = 0.057); these results were also confirmed after random matching by age and sex (111). No significant differences were found in demographic, clinical, treatment, and laboratory features. Among MS patients positive to SARS-CoV-2 IgG/IgM (n = 9), only two patients retrospectively reported mild and short-lasting COVID-19 symptoms.CONCLUSIONS:
MS patients have similar risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection to the general population, and can be asymptomatic from COVID-19, also if using treatments with systemic immunosuppression.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Language:
English
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Jcm9124066
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