COVID-19, chronic inflammatory rheumatic disease and anti-rheumatic treatments

Since December 2019, the pandemic caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) raises a real public health problem. COVID-19 appeared in Wuhan (Hubei province) in China. Drugs that have been used in rheumatology for decades seem to be effective in this infection and are for the most part being studied. The rational use of these anti-rheumatic drugs is based on the cytokinic storm (hyperproduction of IL1, IL6, TNF α) in the body by COVID-19 in its severe form. In this review, the authors make the difference between the infectious and auto-inflammatory part of COVID-19; the disease does not seem to be a risk factor for admission to the intensive care unit for patients suffering from inflammatory rheumatism; however, the poverty of studies on this subject should be noted. The authors also review anti-rheumatic drugs while studying COVID-19 treatment.