COVID-19

April 02, 2021

COVID-19 has created new challenges and opportunities in the way that rheumatologists care for chronically ill patients, including the introduction and prevalence of telemedicine and digital health applications (DHAs).

March 25, 2021

Patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases (IRD) may be more likely to acquire severe pneumonia due to COVID-19, especially in patients with autoimmune disease who are being treated with rituximab.

March 17, 2021

This week, Rheumatology Network sat down to interview S. Louis Bridges, MD, PhD, to highlight the availability of funds for projects exploring telehealth. Bridges is the President of the Rheumatology Research Foundation, as well as Physician-in-Chief and Chair of the Department of Medicine at the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS), as well as Chief of the Division of Rheumatology at HSS and Weill Cornell College of Medicine.

February 25, 2021

Some treatments for rheumatic diseases have shown promise for treating COVID-19, but many should be avoided in patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19. How much do you know about the use of treatments for rheumatic diseases in patients with COVID-19? Take our quiz to find out.

February 18, 2021

The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) has published guidance regarding coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination for patients with rheumatic diseases, with emphasis placed on prioritizing immunocompromised patients to receive the vaccine.

February 15, 2021

A study published in Osteoporosis International focused on the changes that have occurred over the course of the pandemic for patients with osteoporosis and found that there have been delays in dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scanning, problems with medication supply, a decrease in face-to-face consultations, and reductions in parenteral medication delivery.

February 03, 2021

Tocilizumab is an interleukin 6 (an inflammatory cytokine) inhibitor approved for treating a variety of rheumatic diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis. As studies have shown that an increased level of interleukin 6 directly correlates to poor COVID-19 outcomes, investigators speculated that blocking this activity could be a helpful tool in treating the virus and lessening its severity.

February 02, 2021

This week, we sat down for an interview with Alice Fike, MS, NP, from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), to discuss her study titled “Risk factors for COVID-19 and rheumatic disease flare in a US cohort of Latino patients.” The primary objective of this retrospective study was to understand why Latino patients were being disproportionately affected by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

February 01, 2021

The primary objective of this retrospective study was to understand why Latino patients were being disproportionately affected by COVID-19. Of the patients observed, 32 (18%) developed COVID-19 during the study period, meaning incidence rates were 5- to 11-fold higher than the general population (1,540 to 3,431/100,000).

January 29, 2021

This week, we sat down for an interview with April Jorge, MD, to discuss the findings of her study, “Temporal trends and severe COVID-19 outcomes in patients with rheumatic disease,” and what this may mean for patients with rheumatic disease moving forward in the pandemic.