An educational case series of Parkinson's disease during the COVID-19 pandemic

Parkinson’s disease (PD) and parkinsonism are very common neurological diseases that generally affects older individuals. Some studies suggest that patients with PD exhibit increased susceptibility to bacterial and viral infections and an excess of pneumonia is reported as a cause of death in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Therefore, PD could influence the course and the result of COVID-19; however, this association remains unknown. We describe five parkinsonian patients who tested positive for COVID-19 from 8 March to 18 April 2020, at the Fondazione Policlinico Universitario‘‘Agostino Gemelli’’, IRCCS. All cases were positive by the reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction of nasopharyngeal swabs.