Incidence and risk factors for moderate/severe COVID-19 in rheumatic diseases patients on hydroxychloroquine: a 24-week prospective cohort.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the incidence of COVID-19 and its main outcomes in rheumatic disease (RD) patients on hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) compared to household cohabitants (HC). METHODS: This is a 24-week nationwide prospective multi-centre cohort with a control group without RD and not using HCQ. All participants were monitored through scheduled phone interviews performed by health professionals. Details regarding COVID-19 symptoms, and epidemiological, clinical, and demographic data were recorded on a specific web-based platform. COVID-19 was defined according to the Brazilian Ministry of Health criteria and classified as mild, moderate or severe. RESULTS: A total of 9,585 participants, 5,164 (53.9%) RD patients on HCQ and 4,421 (46.1%) HC were enrolled from March 29th, 2020 to September 30th, 2020, according to the eligibility criteria. COVID-19 confirmed cases were higher in RD patients than in cohabitants [728 (14.1%) vs. 427 (9.7%), p<0.001] in a 24-week follow-up. However, there was no significant difference regarding outcomes related to moderate/ severe COVID-19 (7.1% and 7.3%, respectively, p=0.896). After multiple adjustments, risk factors associated with hospitalisation were age over 65 (HR=4.5; 95%CI 1.35-15.04, p=0.014) and cardiopathy (HR=2.57; 95%CI 1.12-5.91, p=0.026). The final survival analysis demonstrated the probability of dying in 180 days after a COVID-19 diagnosis was significantly higher in patients over 65 years (HR=20.8; 95%CI 4.5-96.1) and with 2 or more comorbidities (HR=10.8; 95%CI 1.1-107.9 and HR=24.8; 95%CI 2.5-249.3, p=0.006, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Although RD patients have had a higher COVID-19 incidence than individuals from the same epidemiological background, the COVID-19 severity was related to traditional risk factors, particularly multiple comorbidities and age, and not to underlying RD and HCQ.

Fatal Human Case of Zika and Chikungunya Virus Co-Infection with Prolonged Viremia and Viruria.

Zika virus (ZIKV) infection usually presents as a mild and self-limited illness, but it may be associated with severe outcomes. We describe a case of a 30-year-old man with systemic erythematous lupus and common variable immunodeficiency who became infected with both Zika (ZIKV) and Chikungunya (CHIKV) virus during the 2016 outbreak in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The patient presented with intense wrist and right ankle arthritis, and ZIKV RNA and virus particles were detected in synovial tissue, blood and urine, and CHIKV RNA in serum sample, at the time of the diagnosis. During the follow up, ZIKV RNA persisted for 275 days post symptoms onset. The patient evolved with severe arthralgia/arthritis and progressive deterioration of renal function. Fatal outcome occurred after 310 days post ZIKV and CHIKV co-infection onset. The results show the development of severe disease and fatal outcome of ZIKV infection in an immunosuppressed adult. The data suggests a correlation between immunodeficiency and prolonged ZIKV RNA shedding in both blood and urine with progressive disease. The results also indicate a possible role for arbovirus co-infections as risk factors for severe and fatal outcomes from ZIKV infection.

The relevance of "non-criteria" clinical manifestations of antiphospholipid syndrome: 14th International Congress on Antiphospholipid Antibodies Technical Task Force Report on Antiphospholipid Syndrome Clinical Features.

The purpose of this task force was to critically analyze nine non-criteria manifestations of APS to support their inclusion as APS classification criteria. The Task Force Members selected the non-criteria clinical manifestations according to their clinical relevance, that is, the patient-important outcome from clinician perspective. They included superficial vein thrombosis, thrombocytopenia, renal microangiopathy, heart valve disease, livedo reticularis, migraine, chorea, seizures and myelitis, which were reviewed by this International Task Force collaboration, in addition to the seronegative APS (SN-APS). GRADE system was used to evaluate the quality of evidence of medical literature of each selected item. This critical appraisal exercise aimed to support the debate regarding the clinical picture of APS. We found that the overall GRADE analysis was very low for migraine and seizures, low for superficial venous thrombosis, thrombocytopenia, chorea, longitudinal myelitis and the so-called seronegative APS and moderate for APS nephropathy, heart valve lesions and livedo reticularis. The next step can be a critical redefinition of an APS gold standard, for instance derived from the APS ACTION registry that will include not only current APS patients but also those with antiphospholipid antibodies not meeting current classification criteria.

Changes in anti-citrullinated protein antibody titers following treatment with infliximab for rheumatoid arthritis.

BACKGROUND: The presence of anti-citrullinated peptide/ protein antibody (ACPA) has a high specificity and predictive value for the development of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Some studies have shown decreased titers of this antibody after treatment with infliximab. OBJECTIVES: To assess the changes in ACPA titers in patients with RA after treatment with infliximab as a first biological agent, and to correlate these variations with non-infusion-related adverse effects. METHODS: In a prospective multicenter observational study involving 48 research centers, we assessed 139 patients with established moderate-to-severe RA diagnosed according to American College of Rheumatology criteria. Samples were collected before and 6-12 months after treatment. RESULTS: The mean age of the study patients was 50.6 years and 118 were female (84.9%). Statistically significant variations in ACPA titers were noted in 47 patients (before and after treatment) (P = 0.012). Overall, ACPA titers were decreased in 32 (65.3%) and increased in 15 (34.7%). No correlation was found between severe or mild adverse effects in patients presenting variations in ACPA titers. CONCLUSIONS: The present study showed that infliximab affected ACPA titers, promoting mainly a decrease; however, this was not related to the occurrence of non-infusion-related adverse effects.