Health

There is no increased risk of severe COVID-19 among children with psoriasis using biopharmacy

Researchers have found no evidence of an increased risk of severe COVID-19 among children receiving biotherapy for psoriasis.

For kids psoriasisStudies published in Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Revenereology The biopharmaceuticals have been demonstrated to be safe and unrelated to the increased risk of severe COVID-19.

The authors of the study also found that COVID-19 is responsible for the onset or exacerbation of psoriasis in some children.

“Viral and bacterial infections can trigger psoriasis (one of the exacerbations of psoriasis), especially guttate psoriasis in children,” the author explained. “Similarly, psoriasis can be exacerbated by SARS-CoV-2.”

To assess the effects of COVID-19 on childhood psoriasis and how systemic treatment affects the severity of the virus, the authors are infected with COVID-19 and have a history or onset of psoriasis. We have set up international registration for children under the age of 18. It is transmitted within 1 month of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

A total of 120 COVID-19 cases out of 117 children in 14 countries were reported in the registry and cases from 106 children were confirmed. The average age was 12.4 years, and the predominant clinical form of psoriasis before SARS-CoV-2 infection was systemic psoriasis vulgaris (69.4%).

Of this group, 82 children had active psoriasis prior to infection and 26 were in remission.

Most children (54.2%) did not receive systemic treatment at the time of infection, 33 (28.3%) received biotherapy and 24 (20.0%) received non-biological systemic medications. I did.

For 75 children who were symptomatic, symptoms lasted an average of 6.5 days. This period was significantly longer in patients receiving non-biological systemic treatment (P = .02) and no systemic treatment (= .02)P = .006), compared to patients receiving biopharmacy.

In addition, six children were hospitalized with COVID-19 and one was admitted to the intensive care unit. According to the authors, these children were more likely to receive non-biological systemic treatment than other groups of children (P = .01) Especially methotrexate (P = .03).

After infection, psoriasis worsened in 17 cases (15.2%), and 9 (8.0%) children developed psoriasis, predominantly in the form of drops, within the following month (1).P = .01).

According to the authors, there was no evidence of an increased risk of severe COVID-19 among children receiving biotherapy for psoriasis. However, they said that the small sample size, albeit internationally, is still a major limitation of statistical evaluation.

“While it is not clear whether biological agents have a real protective effect on the outcome of COVID-19, data on their use during a pandemic have a harmless effect on the process of SARS-CoV-2 infection. That’s confirmed, “they said.

They also stated that these results are consistent with previous findings that viral and bacterial infections can cause psoriasis.

“While discussing the initiation or continuation of systemic treatment, both the patient and his / her family need to be aware of the risk of relapse of psoriasis in the event of an infection and the impact of biological agents on the severity of the infection.” Made a conclusion.

reference

Zitouni J, Bursztejn AC, Belloni Fortina A, etc. Children with psoriasis and COVID-19: Factors associated with the unwanted COVID-19 course, and the effect of infection on disease progression (Chi-PsoCov registry). J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol.. Published online June 24, 2022. doi: 10.1111 / jdv.18361

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There is no increased risk of severe COVID-19 among children with psoriasis using biopharmacy