medwireNews: EULAR has released provisional recommendations for the management of rheumatic diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Presenting the highlights of the recommendations at the EULAR 2020 E-Congress, Robert Landewé (Amsterdam Rheumatology Center, the Netherlands) said there is no evidence to suggest that patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs) have a higher risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection or a worse COVID-19 disease course than the general population.
He emphasized that “rheumatologists should definitely be involved” in discussions on the management of RMDs in patients with COVID-19, and highlighted potential issues with availability of rheumatology drugs due to their overuse for treating patients with COVID-19.
Landewé stressed that the currently available evidence for managing RMD patients in the context of COVID-19 is “extremely sparse” and that the recommendations would be updated when new evidence becomes available.
The provisional recommendations have been published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
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EULAR 2020 E-Congress; 3–6 June
Ann Rheum Dis 2020; doi:10.1136/annrheumdis-2020-217877