Open AccessWhat is the best way to manage screening for infections and vaccination of inflammatory bowel disease patients?
Author(s) -
Gianluca Andrisani,
Alessandro Armuzzi,
Manuela Marzo,
Carla Felice,
Daniela Pugliese,
Alfredo Papa,
L. Guidi
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
world journal of gastrointestinal pharmacology and therapeutics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2150-5349
DOI - 10.4292/wjgpt.v7.i3.387
Subject(s) - medicine , inflammatory bowel disease , vaccination , etiology , inflammatory bowel diseases , disease , immunology , crohn's disease , intensive care medicine
The use of biological agents and immunomodulators for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is associated with an increased risk of opportunistic infections, in particular of viral or bacterial etiology. Despite the existence of international guidelines, many gastroenterologists have not adopted routine screening and vaccination in those patients with IBD, which are candidate for biologic therapy. Available strategies to screen, diagnose and prevent bacterial and viral infections in patients with IBD prior to start biological therapy are discussed in this review.