Letter to the editor submitted in response to 'Incidence and prognosis of COVID-19 in patients with atopic diseases on dupilumab: a multicentre retrospective cohort study'.

Abstract

’ s ‘ Incidence and prognosis of COVID-19 in patients with atopic diseases on dupilumab: a multicentre retrospective cohort study ’ , investigating the incidence and prognostic outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients suffering from atopic diseases including atopic dermatitis (AD) and under treatment with dupilumab (1). Herein, we report the results of a retrospective ana-lysis enrolling 532 patients treated with dupilumab for moderate-to-severe AD attending the Dermatology Unit of the University of Naples Federico II from March 10 2020 to May 8 2022. Inclusion criteria were: age (cid:1) 18 years; dupilumab treatment at labeled dosage (600 mg loading dose at baseline, fol-lowed by 300 mg every 2 weeks) for at least 3 months before the viral infection; diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection by molecu-lar or antigenic swab. A total of 109 (20.49%) subjects were included. Eighty-seven (79.82%) patients had received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccines (mRNA or viral vector-based) available in Italy before contracting SARS-CoV-2 infection. Demographic and clinical data of patients who contracted the infection are reported in Table 1. Globally, no cases of severe infection and no hospitalizations were collected in our cohort. Thirteen (11.93%) patients reported AD worsening following SARS-CoV-2 infection. No significant statistical differences between vaccinated and nonvaccinated patients were found regarding all the variables studied. Patients with fever and/or respiratory symptoms temporarily suspended dupilumab admin-istration until the recovery from COVID-19; no treatment suspen-sion was reported in asymptomatic patients.