Covid-19 and IBD - While COVID-19 rages across the globe in this unprecedented pandemic that has drug on for almost a year, hundreds of thousands of people globally are still wondering how this could impact their IBD. Here is what Dr. Gil Y. Melmend MD, MS co-director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center in Los Angeles, California had to

While COVID-19 rages across the globe in this unprecedented pandemic that has drug on for almost a year, hundreds of thousands of people globally are still wondering how this could impact their IBD. Here is what Dr. Gil Y. Melmend MD, MS co-director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center in Los Angeles, California had to say about patient risk with IBD, the future of telehealth, and the importance of vaccination for people with IBD.

When asked about increased risk with COVID-19 and IBD, one would have thought the standard response of people on Biologics or immunomodulators would have increased risk since their immune systems are suppressed. However, quite the contrary. Doctors and researchers are doing their best to understand this equal risk for people with and without IBD. Dr. Melmend says heart disease and diabetes have been shown to pose much more risk with COVID-19 than IBD or the medications associated with it. This comes as welcome news to the hundreds of thousands of people that take biologics or immunomodulators, myself included.

With COVID-19 raging with full force we have seen a large increase in telehealth visits among all areas of medicine, not just for IBD. Dr. Melmend says this increase in virtual care could pave the way to more personalized patient care in the future. We could see over the next several years development of more at home test kits, home monitoring devices, remote visits, and maybe even at home infusions for IBD patients. Now that more people are getting over the mental block that care has to be in person, we are hopeful we will see more advancement in virtual care in the near future.

The only caveat to this advancement in telehealth for those with IBD in particular, is that if you are having a flare or extreme abdominal pain your physician needs to be able to feel the abdomen to access your pain. They may even need to perform an endoscopy or colonoscopy if they need to be able to see the intestines. While many people are feeling that they should not go places, the doctor’s office is an exception, Dr. Melmend says. Putting off IBD symptoms can increase long term damage, and increase risk of colon cancer.

In this interview Dr. Melmend also touched on important immunizations for those with IBD. Even in the pre COVID-19 world, it was recommended that IBD patients receive the two-part pneumonia vaccine, as well as the annual flu shot. Now that there are several COVID-19 vaccines, after some trial and research, it will more than likely be recommended that patients with IBD receive this as they would the flu vaccine. Over the coming months we will be able to measure its effectiveness rate and advise patients further on what to do.

Lastly, Dr. Melmend touched on precautions to take in regards to travel, work, and school. So far with all the data that has been collected on COVID-19, we are not seeing increased risk because of medications for those with IBD. Be sure to follow all the CDC guidelines for mask wearing, social distancing, and hand washing. Dr. Melmend also mentioned to be sure to continue your course of treatment, as stopping it could cause a flare. When being treated with steroids, extra precautions must be taken, as research has shown those in steroids are more susceptible to COVID-19. We are hopeful for the vaccines being released, and hope this has answered your questions and concerns regarding this novel COVID-19 virus.

Want to check out the interview for yourself? Click HERE!

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