Key messages
- Apremilast sembra non aumentare la suscettibilità all’infezione da SARS-CoV-2 nei pazienti con psoriasi e può essere considerata una terapia immunomodulante sicura per questa popolazione di pazienti durante la pandemia.
Sommario
Currently, there are no evidence-based guidelines to instruct clinicians on the use of apremilast during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our data suggest that discontinuation of apremilast treatment out of concerns for contracting SARS-CoV-2 infection is not supported. In fact, cessation of therapy may lead to a flare of the condition being treated. Our study is limited by the rare chance that patients chose not to report a positive COVID-19 test result, relatively small sample size and a retrospective design. Moreover, our data lacked an age-, sex- and diagnosis-matched control group, which limits our comparison to the general Canadian population. Finally, demographic information, composition of comorbidities and differences in protective behaviours that patients on immunosuppression may undertake were not collected and may have an impact on our findings. Overall, it appears that apremilast does not increase susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients with psoriasis and can be considered a safe immunomodulatory therapy for this patient population during the pandemic.