RheumNow Podcast – Booster Shots for COVID (8.13.2021) Save

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

1. In a head to head trial Upadacitinib was superior to Dupilumab in Adults With Moderate-to-Severe Atopic Dermatitis. 24wk DBRCT, 924 pts given either UPA 30/d vsDUP 300 EOW. ESI75 response@wk16, UPA 71% vs DUP 61% https://t.co/5cOoosKyao

2. new European real world experience study shows that mepolizumab is effective at both 100 or 300mg every 4 weeks in patients with the rarely encountered eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA; or Churg-Strauss Syndrome).  https://t.co/cfi2nZGzBa

3. In 206 #SLE pts (mean 62 yrs) polypharmacy (≥10 meds) seen in 35%. 31% used benzodiazepines & 24% opioids. Polypharmacy greater with prednisone, comorbidity & rural. Polypharmacy assoc w/ 4X Benzo & 7X opioid use https://t.co/4U0UakoIRr

4. Efficacy and safety of tildrakizumab in patients with active psoriatic arthritis: results of a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multiple-dose, 52-week phase IIb stud. Nice data another p19 IL23 inhb - safety continues to impress. https://t.co/XVXgEoufCw

5. Takayasu's responds to Tofacitinib - 53 pts given TOF + glucocorticoids (GCs) (n=27) or MTX + GCs (n=26). At 12 mos complete remission (CR) more with TOF (88% vs 56%, p=0.02), w/ lower GC use and relapse rates (12% vs 35%, p=0.052) https://t.co/qgziyIhKgV

6. TB rarely causes arthritis; accounts for 1-5% of all TB (10-30% of pulmonary TB) cases. May present as mono/oligoarthritis, tenosynovitis, dactylitis, Spondylitis (Potts disease), reactive arthritis (Poncets dz) or polyarthritis. https://t.co/RpMrRLQbEa

7. Smart, concise, insightful short video by Dr Marwan Bukhari (Editor-in-Chief of Rheumatology) on how to write an abstract. https://t.co/M8AUFZsxMF

8. Early MRI Sacroiliac Improvement with JAK Inhibition

9. Biologics Reduce Surgical Needs in RA 

10. Safety and Tolerability of Subcutaneous Methotrexate 

11. FDA issued Drug Safety Communication to statin manufacturers requesting they remove strong warnings against statin use during pregnancy. While statins appear in breast milk, they should not be contraindicated, if needed, during Pregnancy https://t.co/AeFwpsLMXT

12. 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... https://t.co/XIB7OVNCvT

13. COVID Vaccine Booster Effective for Transplant Recipients in Small Trial 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.   https://t.co/eYMdocd9T4

14. Current Israel data for mRNA vaccination in people age >60, 1st to get vaccines >6 months ago, now confronting Delta infections 1. Vaccines work but their apparent effectiveness is diminished over time + Delta 2. Boosters showing some preliminary evidence of working via @dvir_a https://t.co/YKgF9dlFz3

15. Today, the 5 most vaccinated states (14M people) had 580 people in hospital, 12 deaths In the 5 least vaccinated states (16M people)? 6,600 hospitalized, 104 deaths Per capita , least vaccinated states have 10X hospitalizations and 7X deaths So yeah, vaccines are working  Ashish K. Jha, MD, MPH @ashishkjha