School of Mathematics

Víctor Elvira has published a paper with a team of clinicians and statisticians titled "Risk and outcomes of COVID-19 in patients with multiple sclerosis"

Víctor Elvira has published a paper, in June 2021, with a team of clinicians and statisticians titled "Risk and outcomes of COVID-19 in patients with multiple sclerosis". This paper came out of a research project investigating the risks of SARS-CoV-2 infections and COVID-19-related outcomes in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), and compared these with the general population. This research was conducted to identify if patients that are largely immunosuppressed respond statistically differently (as a group) when compared to the general population.

The research was conducted via the creation of a regional registry to collect data on incidence, hospitalization rates, intensive care unit admission, and death in patients with MS and COVID-19. National government outcomes and seroprevalence (the level of a pathogen in a population) data were used for comparison. The study was conducted at 14 specialist MS treatment centres in Madrid, Spain, between February and May 2020.

The results showed that the infection incidence rate was lower in patients with MS than the general population, but hospitalization rates were higher. Disease severity was generally low, with only one admission to an intensive care unit and five deaths. Males with MS had higher incidence rates and risk of hospitalization than females. No association was found between the use of any disease-modifying treatment and hospitalization risk.

The paper can be read in full here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ene.14990