Patients With Psoriasis on Biologic Treatments Are Not More Susceptible to Severe COVID-19

Researchers aimed to determine whether the biologic treatment of psoriasis increases SARS-CoV-2 infection risk and if biologics affect the clinical course of COVID-19 in these patients.

According to a study published in the Journal of Dermatological Treatment, patients with psoriasis on biologic therapy should continue treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Researchers aimed to determine whether the biologic treatment of psoriasis increases SARS-CoV-2 infection risk and if biologics affect the clinical course of COVID-19 in these patients by performing a literature review to identify relevant reports. PubMed was searched using the terms psoriasis and COVID-19 until June 9, 2020. The type of study, sample size, method of data extraction, presence of inclusion/exclusion criteria, presence of a confirmed COVID-19 test, and the clinical course of COVID-19 were taken from the studies.

A total of 8769 medical reports were analyzed and showed the rate of SARS-CoV-2 infection among patients with psoriasis was 0.296%, with a hospitalization rate of 0.1%. No deaths were reported due to COVID-19 among all 10 509 patients studied. Patients with psoriasis and on biologics are not more susceptible to COVID-19 or a more severe clinical course of infection. In fact, biologic agents that block cytokines such as IL-17 or TNF-α may prevent the cytokine storm in patients with severe COVID-19.

“While there is not definitive controlled trial data, the available evidence suggests that patients with psoriasis without COVID-19 can continue the biologic therapy for psoriasis,” concluded the study authors.

Reference
Ebrahimi A, Sayad B, Rahimi Z. COVID-19 and psoriasis: biologic treatment and challenges. J Dermatolog Treat. 2022;33(2):699-703. doi:10.1080/09546634.2020.1789051