Opinion Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2020. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Oct 7, 2020; 26(37): 5534-5542
Published online Oct 7, 2020. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v26.i37.5534
Review of inflammatory bowel disease and COVID-19
Keith Sultan, Anjali Mone, Laura Durbin, Samreen Khuwaja, Arun Swaminath
Keith Sultan, Division of Gastroenterology, Northwell Health, North Shore University Hospital and Long Island Jewish Medical Center, Great Neck, NY 10021, United States
Anjali Mone, Department of Gastroenterology, Northwell Health, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York, NY 10075, United States
Laura Durbin, Department of Medicine, Northwell Health, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York, NY 10075, United States
Samreen Khuwaja, Department of Medicine, Northwell Health, Long Island Jewish Forest Hills Hospital, Queens, NY 11375, United States
Arun Swaminath, Division of Gastroenterology, Northwell Health, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York, NY 10075, United States
Author contributions: Sultan K conceived of the manuscript and wrote the first and final versions of the manuscript; Swaminath A did the final editing; Khuwaja S, Mone A and Durbin L conducted the literature search and edited the original and final versions of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: None of the authors have conflicts of interest to declare.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Keith Sultan, MD, Associate Professor, Division of Gastroenterology, Northwell Health, North Shore University Hospital and Long Island Jewish Medical Center, 600 Northern BLVD, Suite 111, Great Neck, NY 10021, United States. ksultan@northwell.edu
Received: April 22, 2020
Peer-review started: April 22, 2020
First decision: May 15, 2020
Revised: August 14, 2020
Accepted: September 1, 2020
Article in press: September 1, 2020
Published online: October 7, 2020
Abstract

The first cases of a novel corona virus infection were reported in Wuhan China in December of 2019, followed by the declaration of an international pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020. Early reports of the virus, now known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, and its clinical disease coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has shown higher rates of morbidity and mortality in the elderly and those with pre-existing medical conditions. Of particular concern is the safety of those with compromised immune systems. Inflammatory Bowel disease (IBD) is itself caused by a disordered immune response, with the most effective medical therapies being immune suppressing or modifying. As such, the risk of COVID-19, virus related outcomes, and appropriate management of IBD patients during the global pandemic is of immediate concern to gastroenterologists worldwide. There has been a rapid accumulation of clinical data and expert opinion on the topic. This review will highlight the latest source information on clinical observation/outcomes of the IBD population and provide a concise summary of the most up to date perspectives on IBD management in the age of COVID-19.

Keywords: Inflammatory bowel disease, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Corona virus, Pandemic

Core Tip: The rapid spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has impacted patients and medical practice across the globe. While all individuals are at risk for COVID-19, this risk is of particular concern to those with compromised immune systems. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients are presumed to be particularly vulnerable, particularly those on immune suppressing/modifying medications. There has been rapid publication of peer reviewed source material and expert opinion addressing IBD experience, outcomes, and management in the age of COVID-19. This review provides a concise summary to help facilitate safe and effective patient management.