Some medications for IBD suppress the body's immune system and can therefore increase the chance of getting sick. The goal of this study was to learn whether taking IBD medication increased the chance of getting COVID-19 infection.
The study included data from 3,953 adults with IBD, from IBD Partners and two other Crohn's & Colitis Foundation studies.
The data showed that immunosuppressive medication did not increase the risk of developing COVID-19.

Research Summary

Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a high level of patient demand for information about COVID-19 and its impacts on the inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) community. IBD Partners and the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation conducted a series of focus groups early on in the pandemic (between August and October of 2020). Focus groups are a form of group interview and are particularly useful for exploring people's knowledge and experiences.

The goals of the study were to 1) better understand the experiences of IBD patients during the COVID-19 pandemic and 2) identify knowledge gaps about IBD and COVID-19 and preferred methods of accessing information in order to make informed decisions.

To our knowledge, this is the first focus group study about the COVID-19 pandemic and the IBD community. In each focus group, participants with IBD talked about different fears, concerns, and questions related to the pandemic. They also discussed how and when they like to receive new information.

The findings of this study show the importance of the patient voice when deciding what to research and how to share those research findings with the public.

In this initial sample, 300 of 317 participants (95%) had detectable anti-spike antibodies after completing their COVID vaccine series indicating that the vast majority of patients with IBD mount an immune response following complete immunization.

Antibody responses were relatively similar across IBD medication classes, although slightly decreased among individuals taking steroid medications such as prednisone.

Although many questions remain and ongoing research efforts will help to further optimize immunization strategies for patients with IBD, these findings provide reassurance that most patients mount detectable humoral immune response to mRNA vaccinations and support current recommendations to vaccinate patients regardless of immunosuppressive treatment.