Neurológia pre prax 2/2023

COVID-19 in patients with multiple sclerosis treated with ofatumumab

When the global COVID-19 pandemic began in 2019, there were concerns about the course among patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). It seems that the course of this infection in MS patients is similar to the general population, given the same risk factors. Patients with comorbidities, patients on anti-CD20 therapy and after recent administration of corticosteroids progress to more clinically severe forms. Ofatumumab is a fully human anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody approved for treatment of adult patient with active relapsing-remitting MS (RR MS). The most recently published results from the open-label ALITHIOS study do not indicate that patient treated with ofatumumab are at increased risk of severe COVID-19. The issue of vaccination has been discussed for a long time in the context of potential risk and, on the other hand, because of the sufficient effectiveness of vaccination against SaRS-CoV-2 infection in patients treated with anti-CD20 therapy.

Keywords: multiple sclerosis, ofatumumab, COVID-19, vaccination