Potential Risks and Benefits of Multiple Sclerosis Immune Therapies in the COVID-19 Era: Clinical and Immunological Perspectives.
Coronavirus SARS-CoV2 has emerged as one of the greatest infectious disease health challenges in a century. Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) have a particular vulnerability to infections through their use of immunosuppressive disease-modifying therapies (DMTs). Specific DMTs pose particular risk based on their mechanisms of action (MOA). As a result, patients require individualized approaches to starting new treatments and continuation of therapy. Additionally, vaccinations must be considered carefully, and individuals on long-term B cell-depleting therapies may have diminished immune responses to vaccination, based on preserved T cells and diminished but present antibody titers to influenza vaccines. We review the immunology behind these treatments and their impact on COVID-19, as well as the current recommendations for best practices for use of DMTs in patients with MS.
['Bhise|Vikram|V|http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3304-5523', 'Dhib-Jalbut|Suhayl|S|']
D018501:Antirheumatic Agents D000086382:COVID-19 D006801:Humans D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents D007167:Immunotherapy D009103:Multiple Sclerosis D058873:Pandemics D018570:Risk Assessment
Multiple sclerosis COVID-19 immunology SARS-CoV2 disease-modifying therapy vaccination