People with MS may not have higher risk of severe COVID-19 infection

An early study from Italy suggests people with multiple sclerosis (MS) may not have a higher risk of getting a severe COVID-19 infection.

Although the researchers said caution must be taken because it is still too early in the pandemic to draw solid conclusions, the results should bring some reassurance for this living with MS.

What is particularly unclear at present is whether people taking immunosuppressive therapies, which are the main treatment for MS, have increased susceptibility to developing a severe COVID-19 infection, or whether their treatment might help protect them against the huge immune and inflammatory response that’s associated with severe complications.

The findings were drawn from an international platform online called MuSC-10 (multiple sclerosis and COVID-19, which exists to collect clinical and demographic data about MS patients who have the signs and symptoms of the virus.

Its goal is to understand better the relationship between COVID-19 and MS, and how factors including age, sex, comorbidities, and treatments affect how those who catch the virus react to it.