COVID-19 and Rheumatology: so far, so close

The disease caused by the new coronavirus COVID-19 is considered by the world community as an emergency of internationalimportance. Along with the huge social importance, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted a number of principally new clinical and fundamental problems of immunopathology of human diseases. This problem is extremely urgent for patients suffering from immune-inflammatory rheumatic diseases (IIRD) due to their higher exposure to infectious complications. Achieving and maintaining control over the activity of IIRD plays an important role in reducing the incidence of comorbid infections in these patients. It has been shown that patients with IIRD undergoing active anti-rheumatic therapy are most likely not characterized by increased risk of respiratory or other life-threatening complications within COVID-19 compared to the general population. Given the need for continued monitoring of patients receiving these therapy, unjustified “prophylactic” cancellation should nevertheless be avoided, thereby increasing the risk of relapse of major IIRD. The article also discusses the issues related to the use of basic anti-rheumatic drugs in COVID-19. Currently there is no evidence to support the therapeutic and prophylactic efficacy of chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19. Tocilizumab can be considered as “lifesaving therapy” for patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome in COVID-19, if other treatments have failed or are unavailable. The use of baricitinib in hospitalized pneumonia patients as part of COVID-19 should be considered with extreme caution. The need for further research to assess the potential role of baricitinib for these patients is highlighted. In the absence of a COVID-19 vaccine in a continuing pandemic, vaccination against influenza and pneumococcal infection should be strongly recommended to the absolute majority of patients with IIRD. This is associated with a high risk of fatal respiratory infection in rheumatological patients, especially given the high respiratory tract involvement in COVID-19