Vaccination, Risk Factors and Outcomes of COVID-19 Infection in Patients with Psoriasis-A Single Centre Real-Life Experience from Eastern Slovakia.

ABSTRACT

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) represents a threat for people with immune-mediated diseases. It seems that patients with psoriasis appear to have a similar SARS-CoV-2 infection rate as the general population. Our study aimed to identify factors associated with contracting COVID-19 and determining the severity of COVID-19 among psoriatic patients in a real practice setting. We conducted a cross-sectional study with 379 respondents. About one-quarter (n = 78; 25.8%) of the respondents who provided information on their COVID-19 (n = 302) status had contracted COVID-19. Most variables tested for their effect on getting COVID-19 proved to be statistically insignificant, except education, age and gender. Our study proved the protective effect of vaccination, especially the third dose, against the COVID-19 outcome. From all the potential variables, we found that non-Roma ethnicity increased the chance of being vaccinated at least once by 2.6-fold. Patients with a longer psoriasis duration had a higher chance of being vaccinated. We consider biological treatment of psoriasis safe during COVID-19. Vaccination of patients was a statistically significant protector against COVID-19. It is important to point out that only three doses of vaccine decreased with statistical significance the chance of getting the illness. Our findings should be confirmed on larger samples in further studies.