COVID‐19 and psoriasis: Should we fear for patients treated with biologics?

Abstract

The new coronavirus pandemic poses question and challenges for dermatologists.One of question is if psoriasis patients treated with immunomodulating and immunosuppressive drugs have to discontinue their treatment in the midst of fears for the infection and its consequences. One of the challenges is how can we support our patients in this critical time. Previous coronaviruses outbreaks reports, current published evidences on pathogenesis and on clinical reports of COVID infection in immunosuppressed patients are used to make a scientifically based decision.

Cutaneous manifestations and considerations in COVID ‐19 pandemic: A systematic review

“…• There were not exact data about incidence of COVID-19 in psoriatic patients who are under treatment. [47][48][49][50]52,60,64,65,[84][85][86][87] • Risk of hospitalization or death is were not higher than normal population in psoriasis patients under treatment with immunomodulators by itself, but psoriasis may be associated with comorbidities like metabolic syndrome especially in elderly people that is associated with higher mortality rate of COVID-19 infection.…”

Management of biological therapies for chronic plaque psoriasis during COVID‐19 emergency in Italy

“…2,4 Because of the impaired immunologic status of patients with psoriasis, their clinical management is challenging in the pandemic, particularly for those using biologics inhibiting key pathogenic cytokines such as TNF-a, IL-17, IL-12/23 or IL-23. [5][6] To date, there is neither an agreement nor a study sustaining the impact of continuing or stopping biologics in psoriatic patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. [7][8][9][10] The PSO-BIO-COVID is an observational, multicentric study, supported by the Italian Society of Dermatology (SIDeMaST), aimed at evaluate the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on the management of patients with psoriasis in Italy, during the first year of the pandemic.…”

Biologic Therapies, Psoriasis, and COVID-19: Our Experience at the Psoriasis Unit of the University of Naples Federico II

“…Since the worldwide spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection, great concern arose on the safety of biologics, whose role has been extensively discussed on whether being beneficial, neutral, or detrimental in terms of susceptibility to the infection and/or severity of COVID-19 disease [1]. Biologics generally expose patients to an increased risk of contracting common and opportunistic infections; conversely, some classes of biologics, i.e.…”