First reported in Wuhan, China, in December of 2019, the SARS-CoV2 virus, causing coronavirus disease 2019 , quickly escalated to a global pandemic. This resulted in many clinicians and patients becoming concerned about continuing biologic therapies for immune-mediated inflammatory diseases such as psoriasis. Given the potential risk of immunosuppression, a wealth of publications subsequently appeared in the literature weighing-in on whether biologic therapies should be continued in psoriasis patients,. 1,2 Guidelines were published to help guide clinicians in their decision-making. 3 Risk factors for severe COVID-19 infection were identified, including higher age, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and respiratory system disease. 4, 5 No good evidence to date has shown that biologic therapies impact the risk of SARS-CoV2 infection or COVID-19 outcomes.
We report a 45-year-old male patient with developmental delay who has a history of psoriasis for 22 years. He has a medical history of coronary artery disease, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, type 2 diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, stroke and depression. The patient has been on multiple treatments for his psoriasis over the years, including topical steroids, methotrexate, adalimumab (2012-2016), ustekinumab (2016-2018), guselkumab (2018-2019) and most recently risankizumab (2020) to maintain control of his severe disease. He received his first injection of risankizumab on January 10, 2020, and his second loading dose injection on February 7, 2020, prior to the onset of the pandemic in our area. Due to an outbreak of COVID-19 in the long-term care facility where he resides, he underwent routine testing for SARS CoV-2 on April 6, 2020, with a nasopharyngeal swab. Although he was asymptomatic for fever, cough, or shortness of breath, he tested positive for SARS CoV-2 infection and remained in lockdown in his facility. He was re-tested on April 20, 2020, and April 27, 2020; both were negative, and his infection was considered to be resolved. Given his negative status and resolution of the outbreak in his facility, he received his next scheduled risankizumab injection on May 1, 2020 and his psoriasis is now controlled with minimal residual disease activity.
It is essential to report real-world cases to contribute to a growing body of literature surrounding SARS CoV-2 infection in patients receiving biologic therapies for psoriasis. Many case reports of COVID infection with biologic therapies have recently been reported, including those treated with risankizumab. 6, 7 We report a patient that despite his younger age, has significant comorbidities putting him at risk of severe COVID-19 infection; however, unlike the previously reported cases, in spite of being positive for SARS CoV-2, he remained asymptomatic and cleared the infection without an interruption in therapy.