BACKGROUND AND AIMS: A similar course of COVID-19 in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases [IBD] and in the general population has been reported. However, disease prevalence in IBD patients is presently unknown. In this prospective observational study, we aimed at determining SARS-CoV2 infection prevalence in IBD patients treated with biologic therapy. METHODS: From IBD patients under biologic therapy and recruited from three different locations in Italy and Germany, 354 sera were evaluated for antibody presence by RBD ELISA. Control groups were: i] age-matched healthy subjects tested in the same time period in Milan, Italy; ii] healthy subjects collected in the pre-COVID era; iii] IBD patients under biologic therapy collected in the pre-COVID era. RESULTS: Eight out of 354 patients tested positive for the anti-RBD-SARS-CoV2 IgG antibody [prevalence 2.3%]. The percentage of IgG-positive patients among those recruited from Milan was significantly higher than among those recruited from other locations [prevalence 5.4% vs 0.4%, p <0.005]. IgG-positive patients reported a significantly higher incidence of fever, anosmia, and ageusia, and were more likely to have entered into close contact with COVID-19-positive subjects before the study enrolment. CONCLUSIONS: Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV2 in IBD patients treated with biologic therapy reflects values measured in the local general population. Specific symptoms and contact history with SARS-CoV2-infected individuals strongly increase the likelihood of SARS-CoV2 seropositivity.
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: A similar course of COVID-19 in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases [IBD] and in the general population has been reported. However, disease prevalence in IBDpatients is presently unknown. In this prospective observational study, we aimed at determining SARS-CoV2infection prevalence in IBDpatients treated with biologic therapy. METHODS: From IBDpatients under biologic therapy and recruited from three different locations in Italy and Germany, 354 sera were evaluated for antibody presence by RBD ELISA. Control groups were: i] age-matched healthy subjects tested in the same time period in Milan, Italy; ii] healthy subjects collected in the pre-COVID era; iii] IBDpatients under biologic therapy collected in the pre-COVID era. RESULTS: Eight out of 354 patients tested positive for the anti-RBD-SARS-CoV2 IgG antibody [prevalence 2.3%]. The percentage of IgG-positive patients among those recruited from Milan was significantly higher than among those recruited from other locations [prevalence 5.4% vs 0.4%, p <0.005]. IgG-positive patients reported a significantly higher incidence of fever, anosmia, and ageusia, and were more likely to have entered into close contact with COVID-19-positive subjects before the study enrolment. CONCLUSIONS: Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV2 in IBDpatients treated with biologic therapy reflects values measured in the local general population. Specific symptoms and contact history with SARS-CoV2-infected individuals strongly increase the likelihood of SARS-CoV2 seropositivity.
Authors: Luca Bosa; Costanza Di Chiara; Paola Gaio; Chiara Cosma; Andrea Padoan; Sandra Cozzani; Giorgio Perilongo; Mario Plebani; Carlo Giaquinto; Daniele Donà; Mara Cananzi Journal: Front Pediatr Date: 2022-02-10 Impact factor: 3.418
Authors: Gilaad G Kaplan; Christopher Ma; Carmen Charlton; Jamil N Kanji; Graham Tipples; Nastaran Sharifi; Michelle Herauf; Stephanie Coward; Richard J M Ingram; Lindsay Hracs; Eric I Benchimol; Remo Panaccione Journal: Gut Date: 2021-08-02 Impact factor: 31.793