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SARS-CoV-2 infection among psoriasis patients in Germany: Data from the German registries PsoBest and CoronaBest
María José Valencia López1, Anna Meineke1, Brigitte Stephan1
1Institute for Health Services Research in Dermatology and Nursing (IVDP), University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Hamburg, Germany.
Background:
Limited data exist on the characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 infections in German patients with psoriasis or psoriasis arthritis (PsA). This study analyses COVID-19 prevalence and severity of symptoms in these patients.
Patients And Methods:
Participants of the German registries PsoBest and CoronaBest were surveyed in February 2022. Descriptive analyses were conducted.
Results:
4,818 patients were included in the analysis, mean age of 56.4 years. Positive SARS-CoV-2 tests were reported by 737 (15.3%) patients. The most frequently reported acute symptoms were fatigue (67.3%), cough (58.8%), and headache (58.3%). Longer-lasting symptoms after COVID-19 were reported by 231 of 737 patients after the acute phase. For most patients (92.9%), systemic treatment for their psoriasis or PsA was not modified during the pandemic. Patients positively tested for SARS-CoV-2 were younger on average and had more often changes in the therapy of psoriasis than negatively tested patients (8.5% vs. 5.4%).
Conclusions:
In this cohort of patients with psoriasis or PsA undergoing systemic treatment, SARS-CoV-2 infections were common but less frequent than in the general German population. No risk signals for more severe COVID-19 or increased infection rates were observed in the patients. In addition, systemic treatments remained largely unchanged, so that no risks can be attributed to these therapies.
