Characteristics of COVID-19 in patients with multiple sclerosis

Characteristics and management of multiple sclerosis patients during the Omicron era: is there a concern about the MS course in the face of the new variant of COVID-19?

“…Although MS patients are theoretically at higher risk for infections than the general population, this increased risk has not been the case in the COVID-19 pandemic [ 7 , 8 ]. In the present study, during the Omicron era, 76 patients (43.7%) developed COVID-19, of whom 29 patients (38.1%) had a history of COVID-19 in the earlier waves.…”

“…A recent review highlighted the older age, male gender, EDSS score of > 3, cardiac comorbidities, obesity, progressive MS course, and recent administration of high doses of corticosteroid as the significant risk factors for developing severe COVID-19 [ 14 ]. Likewise, an Iranian multicenter study recommended recent pulse steroid therapy and probably anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies as substantial contributors to severe COVID-19 [ 8 ].…”

“…MS relapse was defined as a monophasic clinical episode with objective findings typical of MS, which was developed acutely or subacutely, with duration of at least 24 h [ 8 ]. We considered 6 weeks as the period attributed to MS relapse associated with COVID-19 infection or vaccination.…”

The disease course of multiple sclerosis before and during COVID-19 pandemic: A retrospective five-year study

“…Recent studies did not provide a conclusive evidence to implicate a severe COVID-19 infection in patients receiving such therapies ( Bsteh et al, 2021 , Willis and Robertson, 2020 , De Angelis et al, 2020 , Seferoglu et al, 2021 , Luna et al, 2020 , Carandini et al, 2020 , Naghavi et al, May 2021 ). The risk factors for severe COVID-19 in MS patients were not different from the general population ( Louapre et al, 2020 , Ghadiri et al, 2022 ). The benign COVID-19 course in our group could be the consequence of modifying the timing of high efficacy infusion therapy during the pandemic's peak, but could also be related to the fact that DMTs did not have an effect on COVID-19 outcomes in MS patients.…”

Implementing education: Personal communication with a healthcare professional is a critical step to address vaccine hesitancy for people with multiple sclerosis

“…Published studies comparing mortality and outcomes from COVID-19 in PwMS convey widely variable results ( Ghadiri et al, 2021 , Parrotta et al, 2020 , Prosperini et al, 2021 ). There are several factors to consider in making the decision of whether and when to get vaccinated, including the theoretical risk of MS relapse, the potential for aggravation of MS symptoms in the context of a febrile reaction to vaccination (pseudorelapse) ( Garjani et al, 2021 , Stastna et al, 2021 ) and influences that some DMTs have upon the serological response ( Hughes et al, 2021 , Monschein et al, 2021 ).…”