EULAR COVID-19 Recommendations

Abstract

TREATING patients with autoimmune diseases, the rheumatology community is naturally concerned with the spread of COVID-19; as Prof Robert Landewé of the University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands stated: “immunosuppression and infection do not go along very well.” On April 3rd 2020, EULAR President-Elect Prof Hans Bijlsma founded a task force to create a comprehensive set of guidelines for clinicians treating patients with rheumatic disease and COVID-19, though not in a typical manner. Using Microsoft Teams and teleconferences, the newly founded committee set out to create a comprehensive set of recommendations. Time was of the essence, as the virus continued to spread and rheumatologists looked to EULAR for guidance. Exactly 3 months later the guidelines were presented at the EULAR 2020 virtual congress on 3rd June 2020.