To the members of the Global OMS community:

The world is currently experiencing an unparalleled public health emergency due to the COVID-19 outbreak.  Huge numbers of medical scientists are currently examining the distribution of COVID-19 in the general population.    

Of great relevance to the OMS community, a number of researchers are specifically interested in the impact of COVID-19 in people with MS. A number of infectious agents have previously been found to be associated with MS and its progression, and so it is extremely important to explore this aspect in this particular virus. Given the immune system dysfunction underlying MS, as well as the medications which modulate the immune system used to treat the condition, it is important to investigate whether the progression and severity of COVID-19 infection are different in subgroups of people with MS. 

Accordingly, a global consortium of medical researchers, comprising the MS Data Alliance, have designed a study on the impact of COVID-19 in people with MS. The Neuroepidemiology Unit of The University of Melbourne is taking part in this project, contributing key epidemiological skills to the research effort. The OMS community can really help this effort by contributing data from our members.

We would greatly appreciate it if you would consider completing a short questionnaire about any exposure to COVID-19, and if you’ve had it, what your symptoms and treatment were.  In addition, this questionnaire asks a few questions about your MS, which are necessary to explore the relationship of MS type, disability, and MS medication with COVID-19 severity. This information will be invaluable to the global effort to understand the epidemiology of COVID-19, and to the MS community in particular. 

If you are interested in participating, you can access the survey here: https://platform.qmenta.com/covid19_ms_patient. 

We would be extremely grateful for your help,

Thank you!