Psoriasis patients more susceptible to COVID-19
As the COVID-19 pandemic has continued, researchers have been able to study individual groups of patients with pre-existing medical conditions – including psoriasis. One especially important question, is whether patients diagnosed with psoriasis, could be more at risk of infection with COVID-19?
In a recent (virtual) meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD), evidence was presented to suggest that psoriatic patients do indeed have a significantly higher risk of contracting COVID-19 infection, when compared with the general population. The data used for the study was from the Symphony Database, a cloud-based platform containing around 280 million patients. Baseline characteristics showed psoriasis patients were more likely to be white and had a higher proportion of COVID-19 risk factors including heart failure, type-2 diabetes mellitus, obesity, and chronic lung disease.
Overall (and using statistically adjusted data), psoriasis patients were 18% more likely to have a COVID-19 infection compared with the general population. This finding is of importance because it suggests that patients with psoriasis should be prioritised for vaccination.
Reference
- Liu. Association between Biologic Therapy and COVID-19 Infection Risk in Patients with Psoriasis. Presented at the: American Academy of Dermatology Virtual Meeting Experience 2021 (AAD VMX); Virtual.
Hi, I am a Canadian and just thought I would report to someone that after my AZ shot ion April 19th, within 1 month , my psoriasis, which has been arguably bad for some time on ankles , elbows and knees, ---- markedly cleared up. Usually it clears a bit across the summer, but it is better than it has been in 20 years. So I am wondering about the connection. The only other things that happened around the same time that may have contributed to improvement. 1 we got a nice dog 2 I started using a mouth piece for problematic snoring and sleep apnea So the plot thickens!!!
- Name: Rob Gordon
- Topic: Coronavirus (COVID-19)