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  • Response to: ‘The role of antimalarials in COVID-19: observational data from a cohort of rheumatic patients’ by Favalli et al

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Correspondence response
Response to: ‘The role of antimalarials in COVID-19: observational data from a cohort of rheumatic patients’ by Favalli et al
  1. Vasco C Romão1,2,
  2. Ana Rita Cruz-Machado1,2,
  3. João Eurico Fonseca1,2
  1. 1 Rheumatology Department, Hospital de Santa Maria, CHULN, Lisbon Academic Medical Centre, Lisbon, Portugal
  2. 2 Rheumatology Research Unit, Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
  1. Correspondence to Prof João Eurico Fonseca, Rheumatology Research Unit, Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes, Av. Prof. Egas Moniz, 1649-028, Lisbon, Portugal; jecfonseca{at}gmail.com

https://doi.org/10.1136/annrheumdis-2020-218175

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    We thank Favalli et al for their comment on our letter1 regarding the effect of antimalarials for the prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).2 The authors provide updated information on a cohort of 914 patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs), 112 of whom were treated with hydroxychloroquine (HCQ). The prevalence of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases was similar in both groups, and a patient with systemic sclerosis-associated lung disease treated with HCQ had a fatal outcome. Notably, 87% of patients reported rigorous compliance with contagion prevention measures.

    These data are in accordance with accumulating evidence published over the last 2 months, indicating the occurrence of mild and severe cases of infection by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in patients with RMDs treated with antimalarials (table 1).1–16 Out of 869 reported patients with RMDs with confirmed COVID-19, 190 (22%) were taking long-term antimalarials prior to the infection.1–16 Of those, 99 out of 181 (55%) with available data developed …

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    Footnotes

    • Handling editor Josef S Smolen

    • Twitter @romaovc

    • Contributors VCR, ARC-M, JEF: study conception and design, data acquisition, data analysis, manuscript preparation and critical revision. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient and public involvement Patients and/or the public were not involved in the design, conduct, reporting or dissemination plans of this research.

    • Provenance and peer review Commissioned; internally peer reviewed.

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