Analysis of COVID-19 and Inflammatory Bowel Disease: An In-Depth Literature Review

Abstract

Introduction: The world is experiencing some of the most complex consequences of the pandemic, with an accelerated growth of cases and deaths and a huge burden for the health systems, especially in immunocompromised individuals. In the healthcare system, the extent of impact of COVID-19 in patients with chronic diseases like inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) need its scientific attention.

Methods: An extensive literature search was done using ‘COVID –19’, ‘SARS-CoV-2’, ‘IBD’ using google scholar, clinical trials.gov, and PubMed indexed journals.

Results: SARS-CoV-2 has been isolated in the duodenum and rectum, and a higher concentration of fecal calprotectin, a known inflammatory marker, has been found in infected patients with diarrhea compared with those without diarrhea (123.2 vs 17.3 μg/g; P < .001), suggesting that viral gut tropism could worsen inflammatory status and symptoms of IBD patient. In gist, symptoms experienced by IBD patients with COVID-19 are similar to those occurring in the general population, except for a higher percentage of diarrhea.

Conclusions: The aim of our study is to compare the incidence and clinical outcomes of COVID-19 in patients with IBD to the general population by using literature review. With increased risk of acquisition of COVID-19 in IBD patients, these patients can be asymptomatic or can present with typical symptoms of sore throat, fever, cough, dyspnea, sputum production, myalgia, fatigue, and headache.