Background: Neurological disability associated with multiple sclerosis and immunosuppressive or immunomodulatory therapy which is administered for it may increases the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and its morbidity/mortality. Objective: In this study, we evaluated the infection rate and the severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) Methods: One thousand and three hundred and sixty one MS patients from Fars province, south of Iran, were interviewed by phone from April 3 to June 20, 2020. Basic demographic data, information about MS disease and any symptoms or laboratory results relevant to COVID-19 were gathered and reviewed by treating neurologist and MS nurses. SPSS version 22 was used for data analysis. Results: 68 (5%) of MS patients were suspected cases and 8 (0.58%) of all patients with positive real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) or chest CT were in the confirmed group. 5 cases of the confirmed group needed hospitalization. Two patients died while both of them had PPMS and were taking rituximab. The frequency rate of suspected cases with RRMS was 57 (87.7%), followed by PPMS 5 (7.7%) and CIS 2(3.1%). In the confirmed group 37.5% had RRMS, 50% had PPMS, 25% use corticosteroid drug, and 50% were on rituximab. 62.5% of confirmed cases had high disability level and need assistance to walk. 36.8% of suspected and 25% of the confirmed cases were on IFN-β1; eventually all of them recovered well from COVID-19 infection. Conclusion: The present study showed that rate of developing COVID-19 in MS patients are similar to the general population and the frequency of PPMS phenotype, rituximab therapy and corticosteroid therapy were higher in the confirmed group.

中文翻译：

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多发性硬化症患者中的SARS-CoV-2感染；横断面研究

背景：与多发性硬化症以及免疫抑制或免疫调节疗法相关的神经系统残疾可能会增加SARS-CoV-2感染的风险及其发病率/死亡率。目的：在本研究中，我们评估了多发性硬化症（MS）患者的SARS-CoV-2感染率和严重程度。方法：来自伊朗南部法尔斯省的1036.1名MS患者于2020年4月3日至6月20日通过电话访问。收集了有关神经病学家和MS护士的基本人口统计学数据，有关MS疾病的信息以及与COVID-19相关的任何症状或实验室结果。使用SPSS 22版进行数据分析。结果：68（5％）MS患者为可疑病例，8（0。实时逆转录聚合酶链反应（RT-PCR）或胸部CT阳性的所有患者中有58％属于确诊组。确诊组5例需要住院治疗。两名患者在均接受PPMS且正在服用利妥昔单抗时死亡。疑似RRMS病例的发生率为57（87.7％），其次是PPMS 5（7.7％）和CIS 2（3.1％）。在确诊组中，RRMS为37.5％，PPMS为50％，皮质类固醇药物为25％，利妥昔单抗为50％。确诊病例中有62.5％的残疾水平较高，需要步行帮助。干扰素-β1占怀疑病例的36.8％，确诊病例占25％；最终他们全部从COVID-19感染中康复。结论：本研究表明，MS患者中COVID-19的发生率与一般人群和PPMS表型的发生频率相似，