The treatment of inflammatory bowel disease during the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic – practical advices: (A COVID–19-pandémia orvosszakmai kérdései)

Patients with inflammatory bowel disease are more susceptible to severe viral infections requiring hospitalization regardless of treatment. Immunosuppressives and biological treatments multiply the chances of opportunistic and lung infections, especially in combination therapy, so due to the new coronavirus (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2) epidemic, which primarily causes respiratory disease, it is advisable to use different therapeutic considerations for effective and safe patient care. Contrary to the expectations, a study from Italy and China each, despite of the large number of infected cases, did not report any SARS-CoV-2 positivity in patients with inflammatory bowel disease, which can be due to a number of favorable factors, such as the lower average age of the patients, lack of comorbidities, etc. However, it should not be forgotten that the patients on immunosuppressive and/or biological therapy belong to the compromised group. Consequently, in some cases there is a need to modify the therapy, but we should keep in mind that the relapse alongside with the need of medical consultation and even hospitalization elevate the chance of being infected. Thus, flare-ups ought to be avoided as far as they can be, so continuing the already started maintenance therapy can be a reasonable solution, but, in the high-risk group, modifying it can be reasonable as well. Our aim with this article is to make the health care more effective, and to give a practical recommendation for physicians during the epidemic, based on international publications. Orv Hetil. 2020; 161(25): 1022-1027.