Long COVID in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Abstract

Background and aims. SARS-CoV-2-infected patients can experience long-lasting symptoms even after the resolution of the acute infection. This condition, defined as Long COVID, is now recognized as a public health priority and its negative impact on the quality of life of the patients could be more relevant in individuals with debilitating pathologies. We here evaluated the frequency of Long COVID in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). Methods. IBD patients afferent for scheduled visits to our tertiary referral center at the Tor Vergata University Hospital, Rome, were recruited from 7 September to 22 October 2021. During the visits, patients were investigated about previous COVID-19 infection and the possible development of Long COVID. Results. Fifty-three out of 528 IBD patients (10%) have had a SARS-CoV-2 infection. Of these, 21 patients (40%) developed Long COVID, and asthenia was the more frequent symptom as it occurred in nearly two-thirds of patients. Patients with Long COVID were more frequently females, while other clinical and demographic characteristics did not differ between patients with Long COVID and those without Long COVID. In particular, the IBD relapses occurred with the same frequency in the two groups. Conclusions. Long COVID appears to be common in IBD patients even though it does not influence the IBD course.

Incidence of Long COVID and Impact of Medications on the Risk of Developing Long COVID in a Nationwide Cohort of IBD Patients

“…Previous data addressing long COVID among patients with IBD is limited. Salvatori et al conducted a single center study of 53 patients with IBD and found that 40% of their patients developed long COVID, 6 a much higher incidence than we observed. Among the general population, the rates of long COVID are variable depending upon the methodology.…”

Recent advances in clinical practice: management of inflammatory bowel disease during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Studies from different regions have reported variable incidence of long COVID-19, ranging from 33% to 87% at 60 days70 71 and 35% to 76% at 6 months or longer 72 73. One small Italian study reported the clinical characteristics of long COVID-19 in patients with IBD who recovered from acute SARS-CoV-2 infection 74. Prevalence was 39.6%, and two-thirds of patients developed asthenia, one-third neurological manifestations, including anosmia, ageusia, memory loss, dermatological symptoms, myalgia, with a minority developing persistent dyspnoea or depression.…”

“…Patients with IBD who developed long COVID-19 were more frequently female, while other demographic characteristics did not differ from those without symptoms of long COVID-19. 74 The exact pathogenesis of long COVID-19 remains unknown, however, changes in the gut microbiota post-COVID-19 may be one plausible explanation, as baseline gut microbiome composition has been shown to predict the risk of long COVID-19. 75 As more patients are infected with new variants of SAR-CoV-2, the number of patients with IBD who develop long COVID-19 is expected to rise substantially.…”

Postcovid syndrome in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases

“…Проявления постковидного синдрома клинически разнообразны и, как предполагается, вызваны несколькими механизмами: прямым повреждением органов или тканей во время затяжного течения болезни, стойкой иммунной активацией и вирусной персистенцией. Однако в настоящее время неясными остаются вопросы относительно распространенности, особенностей клинических проявлений, тяжести постковидного синдрома у пациентов с имеющимися воспалительными заболеваниями кишечника (ВЗК) [2,3].…”