Podcasts

Podcasts

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Session 1: COVID-19 and systemic therapies for psoriasis

In session 1 of these podcasts, Professor Mrowietz describes the recent guideline updates available regarding COVID-19 for patients on systemic therapy for psoriasis (available at this external link). He highlights that patients should continue their systemic treatment with routine monitoring as there is no evidence that they are at increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 or any other infection. Professor Mrowietz also discusses the comorbidities that could put patients at higher risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and the use of personal protective equipment during patient consultations. There is currently limited guidance for the use of vaccines (particularly live vaccines) in patients with psoriasis on systemic treatments and Professor Mrowietz provides some recommendations on this topic.  

Session 2: Teledermatology

In session 2 you hear Dr Greis explain how the derma2go platform (available at this external link) works for online patient consultations for a range of dermatological conditions. Dermatologists are able to set up their own online clinics on derma2go and link to their websites. This means that doctor-patient consultations are still possible during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic with patients able to get their prescriptions. This digital alternative allows physicians to work more flexibly and is popular with patients as waiting times are reduced. A 2018 study showed that over 75% of patients requested digital consultations (Greis et al., 2018). Dr Greis also gives advice on how patients should take good images and how physicians should comply with data protection requirements.

Session 3: Global Psoriasis Atlas (GPA) and COVID-19

In session 3 Professor Romiti explains his role as a regional coordinator of the Global Psoriasis Atlas (GPA) in Latin America. The GPA is a collaboration between the International League of Dermatological Societies (ILDS), the International Federation of Psoriasis Associations (IFPA) and the International Psoriasis Council (IPC) with the mission of ensuring that people with psoriasis have access to the best available care wherever they live in the world. Professor Romiti describes the prevalence of psoriasis in Brazil being 1.3% (Romiti et al., 2017). There are many challenges for patients with psoriasis in Latin America. These include the limited numbers of doctors, long distances to travel for treatment and tuberculosis, tropical diseases (including Dengue) and now COVID-19. With this podcast being recorded following the ‘peak’, Professor Romiti describes over 200,000 cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection and over 15,000 deaths just in Brazil, with his hospital effectively being partitioned in separate buildings to cope with the pandemic. Teledermatology is not always an option in remote areas and patients are concerned that they are at greater risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection because of either their psoriasis or treatment. Professor Romiti describes the recent guidelines of the Brazilian Society of Dermatology (Arnone et al., 2019) and the consistent stance of maintaining biologic therapy if there are no COVID-19 symptoms but trying to lower the dose of immunosuppressive treatments such as methotrexate and ciclosporin.

References

Arnone M, Takahasi MDF, Carvalho AAVE, Bernardo WM, Bressan AL, Ramos AMC et al. Diagnostic and Therapeutic Guidelines for Plaque Psoriasis - Brazilian Society of Dermatology. An Bras Dermatol. 2019;94(2 Suppl 1):76–107.

Greis C, Zürcher CM, Djamei V, Moser A, Lautenschlager S, Navarini AA et al. Unmet digital health service needs in dermatology patients. J Dermatolog Treat. 2018;29(7):643–647.

Romiti R, Arnone M, Menter A, Miot HA. Prevalence of psoriasis in Brazil - a geographical survey. Int J Dermatol. 2017;56(8):e167–e168.