Incidence and clinical outcome of Coronavirus disease 2019 in a cohort of 11,560 Brazilian patients with multiple sclerosis

BACKGROUND: Little information is available regarding the incidence and clinical outcome of the SARS-CoV2 infection in patients with multiple sclerosis (pwMS). OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence, clinical outcome, and impact of COVID-19 on pwMS. METHODS: This observational study was prospectively performed on a cohort of pwMS (N = 11,560) followed up by 47 out of 51 Brazilian MS referral centers that registered pwMS with COVID-19 at the REDONE platform from 13 March to 4 June 2020. RESULTS: The incidence of COVID-19 for pwMS patients was 27.7/10,000 patients and for the general population was 29.2/10,000 inhabitants. A total of 94 (77 women) pwMS patients, aged 40 ± 10.25 years, presenting 9.9 ± 8.6 years of MS disease duration, developed the COVID-19, most of them (87%) exhibited the mild form of the disease. Eighty (96%) patients maintained the use of MS disease-modifying treatment (DMT) during COVID-19 pandemic and 14 patients were not in use of DMTs. CONCLUSION: Incidence of COVID-19 in Brazilian pwMS was not different from those observed for the general Brazilian population. Most pwMS exhibited mild COVID-19, despite the maintenance of the underlying MS treatment.