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Correspondence
COVID-19 in patients with rheumatic diseases: what is the real mortality risk?
  1. Claudia Marques1,
  2. Marcelo M Pinheiro2,
  3. Edgard Torres Reis Neto2,
  4. Andrea Tavares Dantas1,
  5. Francinne Machado Ribeiro3,
  6. Ana Karla G Melo4
  1. 1 Hospital das Clínicas, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
  2. 2 Hospital São Paulo, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
  3. 3 Hospital Universitário Pedro Ernesto, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  4. 4 Hospital Universitário Lauro Wanderley, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Joao Pessoa, Brazil
  1. Correspondence to Dr Claudia Marques, Hospital das Clínicas, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil; claudia.reumatologia{at}gmail.com

https://doi.org/10.1136/annrheumdis-2020-218388

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    We read with great interest the paper published by D’Silva et al 1 regarding the main outcomes in rheumatic patients with COVID-19. According to this cohort, there was a mortality rate of 6%, slightly similar to the frequency observed in individuals without rheumatic diseases (RDs) (around 4%). On the other hand, there was a threefold higher risk of intensive care admission and mechanical ventilation in patients with RDs, suggesting some difficulties to handle this subgroup. More recently, Favalli et al 2 stated that the incidence of COVID-19 was also quite similar between patients with RD and individuals from the general population in Lombardia (0.62% vs 0.66%, respectively). Moreover, the disease activity was not worsened or triggered by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in rheumatic patients.

    Brazil had its first confirmed case of COVID-19 on 26 February, and, to date, it accounts for more than one million cases and more than 50 000 deaths. The lethality rate …

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    Footnotes

    • Collaborators Adriana Maria Kakehasi, Ana Paula Monteiro Gomides, Eduardo dos Santos Paiva, Gecilmara Cristina Salviato Pileggii, Gilda Aparecida Ferreira, Licia Maria Henrique da Mota, Ricardo Machado Xavier.

    • Contributors All authors have participated in the study to the conception or design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis or interpretation of cases; and subsequent revisions of the manuscript.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient and public involvement Patients and/or the public were not involved in the design, conduct, reporting or dissemination plans of this research.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.

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