As per a prospective observational study published in the journal of Rheumatology International, the patients with inflammatory arthritis (IA) on the treatment of conventional synthetic (cs) DMARDs and/or biologic DMARDs were found to have nearly the same disease course as infected with COVID-19.

A total of 443 patients with IA on cs and/or biologic therapies were investigated to investigate the COVID-19 disease course and outcome in these people. The clinical, laboratory outcomes, occurence of two or more diseases or medical conditions in a patient and adverse effects related to the drug were noted during the follow-up. Thereafter, the treatment was modified in accordance with the clinical manifestations and requirements of the patient.

Out of the total patients, 91 presented with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), 101 presented with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and 251 presented with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Thirty-two patients who had COVID-19 infection were ruled out (17 RA, 8 PsA, 7 AS). All the drug were stopped after the remission. These patients had mild COVID-19 symptoms, expressed primarily with sore throat and infections, whereas 6 patients had olfactory dysfunction (orthonasal olfaction or retronasal olfaction) and gastrointestinal issues. Two out of 3 patients admitted to the hospital had respiratory symptoms and pneumonia and were treated accordingly with exceptional clinical outcome.