Pegasys and COVID?

[924-924]

Hello all,

This is my first time posting but I would like to say that seeing everyone else’s experiences have really helped me navigate the realm of MPNs.

To start off, I’m 30 and have ET. Was diagnosed by Moffitt back in 2020 just as COVID had ramped up. Since then I’ve been put on a regimen of aspirin daily and pegasys 90mcg/wk. I started at 45mcg and have since worked my way up to 90. My platelets have come down from a high of 800 to low 200’s. So far it’s been working like a charm and in my opinion maybe too well. My last wbc was mid 3’s and some would say that’s immune compromised.

With that, I’m curious if anyone has had a bout of covid while taking pegasys and what their experience was? I’ve not seen many of us who take pegasys come down with covid. I’ll say that I’ve been vaccinated with Moderna 3x’s at the full dose but still everyone around me is getting COVID but I guess I’ve been lucky.

Hope all is well! Thanks for reading.

[Kinsale]

Hi 924. I’m Et and Jak2+ and am going into my 4th year on Pegasys. I now inject 90mcg every three weeks. In answer to your question no, but I was told that originally Pegasys was designed for Hep C and so has a strong antiviral aspect to its design. It’s not something I am relying on re Covid mind you, but it’s definitely a silver lining of sorts. Cheers Mark

[Hopetohelp]

Great question. I will be interested to see the answers. Fully jabbed myself and on peg too. Have often wondered the same as Kinsale if peg helps as it is an antiviral drug

[JT_Marlin]

Hey 924 - Reading your post I thought maybe I wrote it! I too am on 90mcg weekly as well and had three shots of pfizer. Thankfully no one in my family has yet had covid. Curious if we have that extra protection….but not so curious that I want to find out first hand!

[Wyebird]

Hi after about 5 weeks after starting Peg I came down with Covid. I delayed taking my Peg for two days. I wouldn’t even have tested myself for Covid if It hadn’t been suggested by two friends. It was like a heavy cold/ flu.

[EPguy]

INF might be useful against covid. In this small study of Besremi it was helpful. It's a different INF but could be relevant to PEG too.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/349...

[gvibes]

Interesting question. I got 3 jabs. On Pegasus since last March at 90. 69 years old. Jak 2 exon 12. No COVID so far.