Initial data from the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance provider registries - Authors' reply.

We agree that information regarding long-term use of hydroxychloroquine and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outcomes is needed. When reporting a case to the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance registry, providers are asked to report on various medications taken before the patient had COVID-19. Although specific details on individual medications might not have been included in our Comment, we report the percentage of cases on a number of immunomodulatory and immunosuppressive drugs, including antimalarials, on a weekly basis to our website, Twitter account, and mailing list, so these data are widely accessible and regularly updated.

We disagree with the claim that “hydroxychloroquine use might be an explanation for no report of systemic lupus erythematosus patients with COVID-19,” and therefore have already responded with data that disprove this statement from the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance registry. In this response, we provide specific details on the numbers of cases reported to the registry that were using antimalarials, and show that among systemic lupus erythematosus cases reported to our registry, we did not find differences in the frequency of COVID-19 hospitalisations between individuals using antimalarials and non-users. We also plan to investigate differences in COVID-19 outcomes by a variety of immunomodulatory and immunosuppressive medications in upcoming publications.

We appreciate the request for detailed information on cases collected in the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance registry. As the pandemic unfolds, we hope to continue to provide the latest data and information entered into the registry via different platforms, with the goal to further understanding of COVID-19 in the rheumatic disease population.