A European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) database containing information on the effects of COVID-19 on patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases has given some reassurance to patients taking immunosuppressants.

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The drugs studied by the team include antimalarial drugs, methotrexate, biological therapies such as TNF-alpha inhibitors, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as Naproxen. None of them were associated with hospitalisation and more severe COVID-19 disease among patients who had COVID-19 infection.

The drugs work by suppressing a patient’s overactive immune system which attacks its human host.