b'CCuurrrreennttRReesseeaarrcchhAAddvvaanncceessCenters 2022 meetingThe Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis By Cherie BinnsEvery year the Consortium of MultipleFamily planning, pregnancy, SclerosisCentersprovideseducationaland breastfeedingopportunities for all members of the multipleWe now know the original injectable sclerosis community. This year was nomedications are all safe to consume during exception. I will highlight information fromconception, pregnancy, and breastfeeding. It is the sessions I was able to attend.no longer necessary for a woman to come off COVID-19 and MS these DMT to try conceiving or once a pregnancy has been conrmed. When discussing a start With more than two years of data available,or change in a DMT in women of child-bearing people with MS that are taking Copaxone orage, the DMTs to consider avoiding are Aubagio its generics, or any of the interferons, generally(in both male and female potential parents) appear to undergo a milder course of theand Tysabri.COVID-19 virus when infected versus thoseTysabri is safe from conception until the rst not on any DMT. Those on medications thattrimester of pregnancy but, must be discontinued deplete B cells (Ocrevus, Rituxan, and Kesimpta)between weeks 12-16 of pregnancy. Because are more likely to have worsened symptomsof the high incidence of relapses that may occur or require hospitalization because of theafter halting this DMT alongside the pregnancy difficulty of mounting an immune responsehormone estradiol (which helps prevent relapse to either the virus or the vaccines. in pregnancy and is not excreted until the third The recommendation is still that alltrimester), it was suggested that an alternative individuals withMSreceiveatleastthreeDMT might provide better outcomes for doses of the COVID-19 vaccine with no otherpregnant woman to manage a relapse and underlying conditions, and four doses, if olderavoid intake of steroids. than 50 or with other conditionsespeciallyMedicationssuchasLemtradaand asthma, diabetes, or obesity. If consideringMavenclad may be used prior to conception starting either a B cell depletion medication orbut not during pregnancy or breastfeeding. It S1P inhibitor (Gilenya, Mayzent, or similar),was recommended that conception be avoided it is recommended to wait until the three-doseuntil four months after the last dose of these course of the vaccine has been completed inmedications. Ocrevus and Rituxan may be order to mount optimal protection againstused up until conception and if the individual the virus prior to the start of DMT.has been on these drugs for more than a year, 47 msfocusmagazine.org'