Key clinical point: Majority of patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) who tested positive for COVID-19 experienced subclinical infection; however, extended treatment with systemic corticosteroids during the pandemic increased chances of COVID-19-associated hospitalization.
Major finding: Most (93.1%) of the COVID-19 infections in patients with AD were subclinical. COVID-19-related complications resulted in 6% hospitalizations, 0.3% mechanical ventilations, and 1.1% deaths. Intake of systemic corticosteroids for 2 or more months during the pandemic was associated with hospitalizations related to COVID-19 (adjusted odds ratio, 1.96; P = .005). However, mortality associated with COVID-19 was not predicted by AD-related variables.
Study details: Findings are from a nested case-control study including 3618 patients with AD who tested positive for COVID-19.
Disclosures: No funding source was identified. Dr. Cohen declared serving as an advisor, investigator, or speaker for various sources. The other authors had no disclosures.
Source: Kridin K et al. Dermatitis. 2021 Jun 15. doi: 10.1097/DER.0000000000000772 .