Asymptomatic Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infection in Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease Under Biologic Treatment

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the management of paediatric inflammatory bowel disease: An Italian multicentre study on behalf of the SIGENP IBD Group

“…Therefore, it is not surprising that paediatric gastroenterology had to face the fear of an increased risk of complicated COVID-19 in children affected by IBD. Nevertheless, as already reported by preliminary studies [10] , [11] , [12] , our data confirm that children with IBD do not seem to carry a higher risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Overall, only 6 cases out of 2291 (0.2%) were identified and in most of the cases the clinical course of the SARS-CoV-2 infection resulted mild.…”

“…Although COVID-19 infection showed less impact on children and adolescents [6 , 7] , it is uncertain whether children with IBD, may be more susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection [8 , 9] . Preliminary reports seem to be encouraging with no or few cases in the most interested areas, as well as a benign course [10] , [11] , [12] . Indeed, despite the potential risks related to immunosuppression, international IBD societies strongly recommended not to suspend treatments in order to reduce the risk of relapses and the need of hospitalization [10 , [13] , [14] , [15] , [16] .…”

Impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and the serum prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in patients with inflammatory bowel disease treated with biologic drugs

“…Of note, this seroprevalence data was similar to that encountered in a healthy control population. At multivariate analysis, male sex was confirmed as protective for the COVID-19 infection, while older age as more likely associated with a positive serological result [16] . Bertè et al tested, with a homemade ELISA assay for the detection of anti-SARS-CoV-2 specific IgG and IgA, 354 patients with IBD from 3 different center treated with biologics: no significant differences were found in the IBD patients when compared with a control population of healthy subjects [17] .…”

“…Nevertheless, this indication needs to be backed by real-world data exploring the safety of these therapies during the current pandemic [14 , 15] . Two studies investigated the serum prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in IBD patients [16 , 17] . In the first one, 90 out of 103 patients under current biologics therapy were investigated for the presence of IgG and or IgM against SARS-CoV-2 in the circulation: 19 of them resulted positive for IgG, IgM, or both (21%), suggesting that the majority of patients had gone through an asymptomatic course of infection [16] .…”

“…Two studies investigated the serum prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in IBD patients [16 , 17] . In the first one, 90 out of 103 patients under current biologics therapy were investigated for the presence of IgG and or IgM against SARS-CoV-2 in the circulation: 19 of them resulted positive for IgG, IgM, or both (21%), suggesting that the majority of patients had gone through an asymptomatic course of infection [16] . Of note, this seroprevalence data was similar to that encountered in a healthy control population.…”