Los Angeles (June 8, 2021)
IBDs, including Crohn s disease and ulcerative colitis, are chronic conditions that occur when the intestinal immune system becomes overreactive, causing chronic diarrhea and other digestive symptoms. In a published survey at the beginning of COVID-19 vaccine distribution, 70% of IBD patients reported concern about side effects from the vaccines. What we ve learned is that if you have IBD, the side effects you re likely to experience after a vaccine are no different than they would be for anyone else, said Gil Melmed, MD, corresponding author of the study and director of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinical Research at Cedars-Sinai. If you re being treated with advanced therapies such as biologics, these side effects might even be milder. So, don t let that be a reason that you re not getting vaccinated.