Colitis patients need better immunization
Last Updated: 2006-08-30 16:21:14 -0400 (Reuters Health)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which includes Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, are frequently not immunized against vaccine-preventable diseases, researchers report.

This is despite the often weakened immune system of IBD patients, which puts them at high risk of infections.

Dr. Gil Y. Melmed of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, and colleagues had 169 patients from their IBD specialty clinic complete questionnaires about immunization status, exposure to preventable diseases such as influenza, chickenpox and hepatitis, and their general medical condition.

One hundred forty-six of the participants (86 percent) reported taking immune-suppressing medications currently or in the recent past to deal with their inflammatory bowel condition.

Only 45 percent recalled receiving a tetanus vaccination in the past 10 years, just 28 percent received regular influenza vaccination, and 9 percent had had a recent pneumococcal vaccination, according to the team's report in the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Although 44 percent were at risk of exposure to hepatitis B virus, only 28 percent had received the vaccine.

Lack of awareness of the need for immunization, reported by 49 percent, was the number one reason for not being vaccinated. Another 18 percent said they were concerned over possible side effects.

Melmed's group points out that patients who are about to have an organ transplant and are going to receive immunosuppressive treatment are checked for immunization status and vaccinated accordingly before treatment begins. They say the same should be done for patients with IBD and other chronic illnesses "who have a reasonable likelihood of future immunosuppression."

SOURCE: American Journal of Gastroenterology, August 2006.

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