HealthCert Blog

Biologic therapy is effective for treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis but may be associated with an increased risk for serious infection.

A recent study looked at the serious infection rate among psoriasis patients treated with biologic, as compared with non-biologic systemic agents.

Researchers identified 5,889 adult psoriasis patients who had been treated with systemic therapies.

Adjusting for age, gender, ethnicity and comorbidities revealed a significantly increased risk for overall serious infection among patients treated with biologic therapy as compared with those treated with non-biologics.

More specifically, there was a significantly elevated risk for skin and soft tissue infection and meningitis during periods of active biologic use.

The study concluded that there exists an increased rate of skin and soft tissue infections and meningitis among psoriasis patients treated with biologics. Clinicians should be aware of these potential adverse events when prescribing biologic agents.

Read more recent research on psoriasis.

Source:
Dobry, A.S. et al, (November 2017.) Serious infections among a large cohort of subjects with systemically treated psoriasis. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. Volume 77. Issue 5. Pages 838–844. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaad.2017.07.047.

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