During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, many unpredictable changes have occurred in the medical field. Risk of COVID-19 does not seem to increase in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) considering based on current reports. Current medications for IBD do not increase this risk; on the contrary, some of these might be used as therapeutics against COVID-19 and are under clinical trial. Unless the patients have confirmed COVID-19 and severe pneumonia or a high oxygen demand, medical treatment should be continued during the pandemic, except for the use of high-dose corticosteroids. Adherence to general recommendations such as social distancing, wearing facial masks, and vaccination, especially for pneumococcal infections and influenza, is also required. Patients with COVID-19 need to be withhold immunomodulators or biologics for at least 2 weeks and treated based on both IBD and COVID-19 severity. Prevention of IBD relapse caused by sudden medication interruption is important because negative outcomes associated with disease flare up, such as corticosteroid use or hospitalization, are much riskier than medications. The outpatient clinic and infusion center for biologics need to be reserved safe spaces, and endoscopy or surgery should be considered in urgent cases only.
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Background/Aims Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is recognized to have variable clinical manifestations. The clinical presentation of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) having COVID-19 is unclear.
Methods We identified articles reporting about the clinical presentation of COVID-19 in those with underlying IBD from PubMed and Embase. The studies, irrespective of design or language, were included. The overall pooled frequency of various symptoms was estimated. Joanna Briggs Institute Critical appraisal checklist was used to assess the quality of studies.
Results Eleven studies, including 1,325 patients, were included in the pooled analysis. The pooled estimates for clinical presentation were; fever: 67.53% (95% confidence interval [CI], 45.38–83.88), cough: 59.58% (95% CI, 45.01–72.63), diarrhea: 27.26% (95% CI, 19.51–36.69), running nose: 27% (95% CI, 15.26–43.19) and dyspnea: 25.29% (95% CI, 18.52–33.52). The pooled prevalence rates for abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting were 13.08% (95% CI, 9.24–18.19), 10.08% (95% CI, 5.84–16.85) and 8.80% (95% CI, 4.43–16.70) per 100 population, respectively.
Conclusions The clinical presentation of COVID-19 in IBD patients is similar to the general population.
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In late 2019, an outbreak of pneumonia caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) initiated in Wuhan, Hubei province, China. The major clinical symptoms described for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) include respiratory distress and pneumonia in severe cases, and some patients may experience gastrointestinal impairments. In accordance, viral RNA or live infectious virus have been detected in feces of patients with COVID-19. Binding of SARS-CoV-2 to the angiotensin‐converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is a vital pathway for the virus entry into human cells, including those of the respiratory mucosa, esophageal epithelium as well as the absorptive enterocytes from ileum and colon. The interaction between SARS-CoV-2 and ACE2 receptor may decrease the receptor expression and disrupt the function of B0AT1 transporter influencing the diarrhea observed in COVID-19 patients. In this context, a fecal-oral transmission route has been considered and points out a role for the digestive tract in disease transmission and severity. Here, in order to further understand the impact of COVID-19 in human physiology, the cellular and molecular mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 infection and disease severity are discussed in the context of gastrointestinal disturbances.
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