Summary Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was initially reported in China in late 2019 and rapidly spread across the world On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) characterized the situation as a global pandemic In response to the pandemic, the primary objectives of European countries were: to limit the spread of the virus, to protect the most vulnerable and health workers and to provide a clear quantification of the virus's process This chapter focuses on the first phase of the pandemic Diagnosis of a COVID-19 case includes a number of criteria such as epidemiological characteristics, the underlying symptomatology of the probable patient and laboratory confirmation Coronaviruses present a distinctive genetic characteristic among all other viruses, which is also related to their variability The particular characteristics of the SARS-CoV genome sequence have raised many questions as to its taxonomic classification Objectives The objectives for this study were to assess whether gout and/or rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are risk factors for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) diagnosis and to assess whether gout and/or RA are risk factors for death from COVID-19 Methods We used data from the UK Biobank Multivariable-adjusted logistic regression was employed in the following analyses: analysis A, to test for association between gout and/or RA and COVID-19 diagnosis (n = 473,139);analysis B, to test for association between gout and/or RA and death from COVID-19 in a case-control cohort of people who died of or survived COVID-19 (n = 2059);analysis C, to test for association between gout and/or RA and death from COVID-19 in the entire UK Biobank cohort (n = 473,139) Results RA, but not gout, was associated with COVID-19 diagnosis in analysis A Neither RA nor gout was associated with risk of death in the group diagnosed with COVID-19 in analysis B However, RA was associated with risk of death related to COVID-19 by using the UK Biobank cohort in analysis C, independent of comorbidities and other measured risk factors (odds ratio [OR] 1 9;95% confidence interval CI 1 2?3 0) Gout was not associated with death related to COVID-19 in the same UK Biobank analysis (OR 1 2;95% CI 0 8?1 7) Conclusion RA is a risk factor for death from COVID-19 by using the UK Biobank cohort These findings require replication in larger data sets that also allow for inclusion of a wider range of factors
Some Remarks on the Coronavirus Pandemic in Europe Gout, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and the Risk of Death Related to Coronavirus Disease 2019: An Analysis of the UK Biobank