No treatment change needed for peds IBD during COVID-19 pandemic

(HealthDay)—Preliminary data regarding outcomes for pediatric patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak are reassuring, according to research published online March 31 in the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition.

In an effort to provide provisional guidance for managing pediatric IBD patients in the era of COVID-19, Dan Turner, M.D. Ph.D., from the Shaare Zedek Medical Center at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and colleagues evaluated data from an electronic reporting system of children with IBD infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2; eight children from 102 reporting centers).

The researchers report that all eight children had mild infection without needing hospitalization, despite treatment with immunomodulators and/or biologics. No cases have been reported in China or South Korea. Among 79 children whose biologic treatment has been delayed, 22 percent had exacerbations of their IBD. Providers reported that face-to-face appointments were often replaced by remote consultations, but in almost all cases, IBD treatment did not change.

“Standard IBD treatments, including biologics, should continue at present through the pandemic, especially in children who generally have more severe IBD course on one hand and milder SARS-CoV-2 infection on the other,” the authors write.

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