Case study 4

Scenario

54-year old woman with RRMS on dimethyl fumarate for over 3-years doing well. EDSS 2.0.

Question

Would you consider me to be more vulnerable to Covid-19 as I am DMF? I am hand washing and following all advice and not getting overly anxious, as am generally very well, but just thought I should double check.

As your lymphocyte counts are normal, i.e. greater than 1000/mm3, I don't consider you to be immunosuppressed to any significant degree. In the event of you being infected with a novel virus, such as COVID-19, you should be able to handle it fine. Saying this even normal people can get severe COVID-19 infections. Dare I point-out that as you are over 45 years of age you are at increased risk of getting severe COVID-19 infection, unfortunately there is little we can do about this.

Please be careful and in addition to hygiene measure make sure you socially distance yourself to further reduce the risk of getting COVID-19 infection. These measures are more about public health, but will help individuals.

Date & Disclaimer: 18-March-2020; please note the information and advice in this case study may change with time.