covid-19 infection and seropositivity in multiple sclerosis patients in guilan in 2021

Background: multiple sclerosis (ms) is a chronic autoimmune disease of the central nervous system. covid-19 has presented a significant challenge to the care providers of patients with ms.objectives: the present study aimed to investigate the frequency of covid-19 infection and its seropositivity in ms patients in guilan, iran, in 2021.materials & methods: in this analytical-cross-sectional study, all patients with relapsing-remitting ms registered in the guilan ms association with an expanded disability status scale of less than 5 who were referred for evaluation participated in the study. information related to the clinical and serological symptoms of covid-19 infection, changes in drug use, and the occurrence of new attacks were collected. serological results of covid-19 (igg) among them were registered. results: in total, 260 patients with ms (78.8% women, and 21.2% men) with a mean±sd age of 38.7±9.9 years, and a mean±sd duration of ms of 8.9±4.9 years were investigated. the most commonly used drugs were dimethyl fumarate, interferon, and rituximab, respectively. thirty-three patients (12.6%) had a clinical covid-19 infection, of which 32 people had a mild and only one had a critical infection. eight patients (1.3%) had positive covid-19 igg tests. no significant relationship was found between the covid-19 infection with the type of medication, medication change, clinical attack of ms, and co-morbidities (p>0.05).conclusion: a few patients had positive covid-19 igg tests and clinical covid-19 infection. the vast majority had mild disease, and the clinical attack was not related to covid-19 infection..