The incubation period for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has important implications for surveillance and control activities. The Annals of Internal Medicine reports a pooled analysis of confirmed COVID-19 cases January 4, 2020 and February 24, 2020.

On April 3rd, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in the UK, published a rapid guideline for managing children and adults with rheumatological autoimmune, inflammatory and metabolic bone disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic, while protecting staff from infection.

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and COVID developments from this past week.

The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) has published a guidance document on infusions and office based therapies.

With the COVID-19 pandemic dynamically changing, we have provided several news items germane to the Rheumatologist.

Blood pressure should be maintained at a level below 130/80 mm Hg in all patients with lupus to lessen their likelihood of atherosclerotic vascular events, Canadian researchers asserted.

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com.

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com.

In a study of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, JAMA reports that serum folate level of greater than 4.3 ng/mL was associated with lower CV mortality risk.

The Annals of Rheumatic Disease reports that interleukin- 27 (IL-37) may play an important role in the pathogenesis of gout, paving the way for future therapy with recombinant IL-37 in gouty arthritis.

Dr Jack Cush Reviews the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com

RheumNow Live kicks off its second annual meeting - a little, big meeting in Fort Worth - in just 2 weeks and I think you should be there.

Although the overall incidence rates of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have remained stable over recent decades, there has been a significant increase in seronegative cases, a retrospective study showed.

Low-dose methotrexate (LD-MTX) was studied in high risk cardiac patients in the cardiac intervention trial (CIRT), but was prematurely ended for not showing a change in cardiovascular event rates. Nonetheless this trial studied the safety and adverse event rates of LD-MTX and those results are reported in the current issue of Annals of Internal Medicine.

Both allopurinol and febuxostat (Uloric) were associated with an increased risk of hypersensitivity reactions among new users of these urate-lowering therapies, a large U.S. study found.

A registry study of metric use (primarily RAPID3 and CDAI) in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients shows that, even in the face of moderate or high disease activity, treatment changes by rheumatologists were relatively low (35.6–54.6%).

Dr Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com

Women who were seropositive for anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA) and ultimately went on to develop rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were also at increased risk for being diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), analysis of data from the Nurses' Health Study showed.

Dr Jack Cush comments on this week's journal articles, reviews and studies.