PATIENTS with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) could have an increased risk of contracting respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and may be eligible to receive RSV vaccines, suggests a new study presented at the annual American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) Scientific Meeting in Vancouver, Canada. Previously, there has been little research on the impact of RSV in patients with IBD, which has traditionally been associated with patients who have received organ transplants. RSV can be very serious in patients with IBD, explained author of the study Ryan Smith, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA, as “these patients are known to be at an increased risk for infections, especially respiratory infections.”
The retrospective cohort study used data from the TriNetX research network and included a cohort of 206,475 patients with IBD, alongside a control cohort of 4.2 million participants without IBD.
Results obtained found higher rates of RSV diagnoses in IBD cohorts across all age groups (p=0.0001). In particular, patients being treated with either immunomodulators or anti-TNF therapies were found to be at an increased risk of serious infection. The risk was also found to be increased in patients with underlying comorbidities.
In patients with IBD aged 18 years and below, 0.36% were at an increased risk of RSV infection, whilst only 0.16% were at risk in the control group. In the 18–49 years age range, the risk was 0.26% in the IBD cohort versus only 0.15% in the control cohort. Amongst patients in the over 65 age group, risk for RSV infection was 0.55% in the IBD cohort and 0.24% in the control cohort. With regard to hospitalisations, across all age groups, the IBD cohort had a higher risk of being hospitalised following an RSV infection. A total of 47.3% of patients 18 years and younger with IBD were hospitalised, versus 39.7% in the control group. In those aged 65 and over, 56.4% of patients with IBD were hospitalised, versus 47.3% of the control cohort. Mortality rate following an RSV infection in the IBD group was 4.7%.
Researchers involved in the study say it is too early to make recommendations on RSV vaccinations for patients with IBD, but advised they should consider seeking the vaccination, especially given its low risk for side effects.
