Background
The COVID‐19 pandemic has raised questions regarding the management of chronic skin diseases, especially in patients on systemic treatments. Data concerning the use of biologics in adults with psoriasis are reassuring, but data specific to children are missing. Moreover, COVID‐19 could impact the course of psoriasis in children.
Objectives
The aim of this study was therefore to assess the impact of COVID‐19 on the psoriasis of children, and the severity of the infection in relation to systemic treatments.
Methods
We set up an international registry of paediatric psoriasis patients. Children were included if they were under 18 years of age, had a history of psoriasis, or developed it within 1 month of COVID‐19 and had COVID‐19 with or without symptoms.
Results
One hundred and twenty episodes of COVID‐19 in 117 children (mean age: 12.4 years) were reported. The main clinical form of psoriasis was plaque type (69.4%). Most children were without systemic treatment (54.2%); 33 (28.3%) were on biologic therapies, and 24 (20%) on non‐biologic systemic drugs. COVID‐19 was confirmed in 106 children (88.3%) and 3 children had two COVID‐19 infections each. COVID‐19 was symptomatic for 75 children (62.5%) with a mean duration of 6.5 days, significantly longer for children on non‐biologic systemic treatments (
P
= 0.02) and without systemic treatment (
P
= 0.006) when compared with children on biologics. The six children who required hospitalization were more frequently under non‐biologic systemic treatment when compared with the other children (
P
= 0.01), and particularly under methotrexate (
P
= 0.03). After COVID‐19, the psoriasis worsened in 17 cases (15.2%). Nine children (8%) developed a psoriasis in the month following COVID‐19, mainly a guttate form (
P
= 0.01).
Discussion
Biologics appear to be safe with no increased risk of severe form of COVID‐19 in children with psoriasis. COVID‐19 was responsible for the development of psoriasis or the worsening of a known psoriasis for some children.
Background: Few studies addressing the safety and efficacy of biological therapy (BT) or apremilast (APR) in patients with psoriasis with a history of hematologic malignancy (HM) exist. Aim: To describe the tolerance and efficacy of BT and APR in moderate-to-severe psoriasis in patients with a history of in-remission or evolving HM. Methodology: A retrospective, multicenter chart review of the tolerance and efficacy of BT or APR in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis and a clinical history of in-remission or evolving HM. Results: Twenty-one patients with severe psoriasis and a history of HM were included in France by the GEM Resopso study group. Of the 16 patients treated with one or more BT lines, none showed recurrence of their HM which was considered as stable or in remission, and only 2 patients showed an evolution of their HM which had been considered as stable at the beginning of treatment. In the 10 patients treated with APR, the HM of one patient who also received BT worsened. The 3 evolutions did not impact the treatment with BT or APR. Tolerance was very satisfactory, with a low occurrence of infections. Regarding efficacy, only one patient treated with APR did not achieve any notable clinical improvement. Conclusion: Despite supportive data regarding tolerance, the heterogeneity of the analyzed population and limited available data, BT and APR should be used with caution in this patient population and investigations on larger cohorts should be conducted to further assess their tolerance in this patient population.
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