Sporadic reports of anakinra use in COVID-19 infection has hinted is potential; now a metanalysis shows that the use of anakinra may reduce the mortality risk in patients admitted to hospital with moderate to severe COVID-19 pneumonia, especially highly elevated ferritin and C-reactive prote

For organ transplant recipients, a third dose of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine more than tripled the proportion with a sufficient antibody response, a randomized trial showed.

The CDC had reported the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) study of rare serious adverse events after COVID-19 vaccination and assert that the excessive morbidity and mortality from COVID-19 (and the protection afforded by vaccination) far exceeds the risk of rare safety signals

Post-vaccination disease flares were uncommon among patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases who were inoculated against COVID-19, researchers found.

How much psoriasis do you need to have in order to have psoriatic arthritis? This plus a review of rheumatology and COVID news from the past week on RheumNow.com.

Registry data suggests an increased risk of herpes zoster (HZ, shingles) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients taking JAK inhibitors (JAKi) but also with other biologic DMARDs, compared to csDMARDs.

Today the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that masks should be used by those vaccinated against the coronavirus in public indoor spaces in parts of the country where the virus is surging.

Sparks and colleagues have published data from the Global Rheumatology Alliance noting that among rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients afflicted with COVID-19 infection, there was little influence of their baseline biologic or targeted synthetic (b/ts) disease-modifying antirheumatic drug

JAMA has published the findings of trial wherein the anti–interleukin-1β antibody canakinumab (CAN) failed to improve survival in patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19.

MMWR review of the risk of myocarditis and pericarditis reports a June 23, 2021 recommendation by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices that the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination clearly outweighed the risks of myocarditis after vaccination. 

2020 was historic, memorable and game-changing. Under the cloud of COVID-19, there were many significant and memorable advances and setbacks for the rheumatology world. In our accounting of most read articles for 2020, (not surprisingly) 17/20 were COVID-related.

Dr. Jack Cush reviews this week’s news and journal reports featured on RheumNow.com.

How risky are family gatherings, birthday parties and informal social gatherings? A cross-sectional analysis suggests that birthdays may be associated with increased rates of COVID-19 infection within households where there is a high COVID-19 prevalence in the population. 

The NEJM has published results of a real-world efficacty trial showing that COVID infected children with the multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) respond better to initial IVIG plus glucocorticoids (than IVIG alone) which was associated with less subsequent cardiovascular co