Among psoriasis patients, there is often some uncertainty about the implications of their underlying disease and the respective system therapy with regard to the risk of a severe course of covid-19 infection on the one hand, but also with regard to possible effects of corona vaccination on the other hand. Two studies were presented at the EADV Congress with recent data on this.
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The covid 19 pandemic has proven to be a major challenge for patients with an immune-mediated inflammatory disease such as psoriasis, according to Prof. Dee-Dee Murrell, MD, EADV Board Member and Professor of Dermatology at the University North South Wales (AUS) [1]. The research results presented at this year’s Annual Meeting are an important contribution to improving patient care – and edu cation.
Countering Covid vaccine skepticism with knowledge transfer
A research group in Spain has looked at the attitudes of patients with psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis toward Covid 19 vaccination [2]. For this purpose, 10,922 messages posted on social media channels between January and March 2021 by patients from the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Spain were subjected to a content analysis based on predefined keywords. This found that vaccine skepticism was driven by safety concerns and concern about possible worsening of their autoimmune disease from potential vaccine side effects (n=344). A lack of knowledge of empirical data in this regard emerged as an important factor influencing this uncertainty. In addition, many patients felt that the information about potential interactions of Covid 19 vaccination with biologic therapy was insufficient and were unclear about the effects of vaccination in immunocompromised patients. It is important to consider this and educate psoriasis patients regarding the relevance, safety, and efficacy of covid 19 vaccination, said Álvaro González-Cantero, MD, Department of Dermatology, Ramon Y Cajal University Hospital, Madrid (E ).
Biologic therapy: BioCAPTURE registry data are informative.
In a second real-world study, researchers from the Netherlands investigated possible effects of biologic therapies on the risk of respiratory infections, including covid-19, to see if there were any associations [3]. From data in the BioCAPTURE registry, a cohort of 714 psoriasis patients with a total of 1325 treatment episodes was analyzed, in which 2224 respiratory infections were documented, of which only 1.3% were severe. There were no associations between biologic therapy and serious infections. The calculated incidence rate for SARS-CoV-2 infection was 3.8 (95% CI: 2.2-6.1) per 100 patient-years in 2020, based on a single BioCAPTURE center. The researchers found no differences in the extent of risk for respiratory infection depending on which biologic (adalimumab, etanercept, infliximab, ustekinumab, secukinumab, ixekizumab, guselkumab) was used. Moreover, study results to date indicate that treatment with biologics does not affect susceptibility to covid 19 disease, although this is being further explored, explains Lara van der Schoot, MD, of the Department of Dermatology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen (NL). That there were no differences in the magnitude of risk for respiratory infection in this prospective psoriasis cohort depending on which biologic – including the newer IL-17 and IL-23 inhibitors – was used is clinically relevant, and researchers agree that these findings provide an important information base for shared decision making processes between psoriasis patients and their treating physicians.
Congress: EADV Annual Meeting 2021
Literature:
- “Real-world data shines a light on the impact of COVID-19 on psoriasis patients,” EADV Annual Meeting, Press release, Sept. 29, 2021.
- González-Cantero, A, et al: Understanding real-world experiences and the impact of COVID-19 vaccination on the associated use of biologics in patients with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis through social media monitoring. Abstract no 181 submitted to EADV30th Congress 2021
- van der Schoot L, et al.: Risk of serious and respiratory tract infections in psoriasis patients treated with biologics: results from the Biocapture registry. Abstract no. 1161 submitted to EADV 30th Congress 2021.
DERMATOLOGIE PRAXIS 2021; 31(5): 36 (published 8.10.21, ahead of print).
