Table 2.
COVID-19: are IBD patients protected from the infection?
| Author | Patients | Diagnostic Method | Geographic Area | Time/Duration of the Study | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taxonera et al., 2020 [17] |
IBD: 1912 COVID-19: 12 |
Molecular swab (PCR) | Madrid (Spain) | Until 08 April 2020 | COVID-19 incidence in IBD patients (4.9/1000) < general population (6.6/1000), OR:0.74, p < 0.001 Mortality in IBD patients (0.82/1000) < general population (0.9/1000) but not statistically significative, p = 0.36 |
| Mak et al., 2021 [18] |
Hong Kong IBD: 2954 Taiwan IBD: 2554 |
Molecular swab (PCR) | Hong Kong and Taiwan (China) | 21 January 2020–15 April 2020 | 0 COVID-19 cases among IBD patients General population: 1017 cases in Hong Kong, 429 cases in Taiwan |
| Maconi et al., 2020 [19] |
IBD: 941 COVID-19: 2 Controls: 869 COVID-19: 10 |
Molecular swab (PCR) (certain cases) Clinic (highly suspected cases) |
Lombardy (Italy) | Until 25 April 2020 | Certain diagnosis of COVID-19: 2 IBD patients and 10 controls, p = 0.018 Highly suspected COVID-19: 3.8% of IBD patients < 6.3% of controls, p = 0.006 |
| Allocca et al., 2020 [20] |
IBD: 23,879 COVID-19: 97 |
Molecular swab (PCR): 64 patients Clinic + contact or radiology: 33 patients (highly suspected) |
Italy, United Kingdom, France, Spain, Portugal, Malta, Kastoria, Attica, Greece, Russia, Israel | 21 February 2020–30 June 2020 | COVID-19 incidence in IBD patients (0.406%) comparable to general population (0.402%) Lethality in IBD patients (1%) < general population (9%) |
| Norsa et al., 2020 [21] |
IBD: 522, of which 59 < 18 aa Controls with COVID-19: 479 |
Molecular swab (PCR) | Hospital “Papa Giovanni XXIII”, Bergamo (Italy) | 19 February 2020–23 March 2020 | 0 cases of COVID-19 in IBD patients 479 COVID-19 patients accessed the hospital during the same period |
| Quera et al., 2020 [22] |
IBD: 1432 COVID-19: 32 |
Molecular swab (PCR) | Chile | 01 March 2020–31 August 2020 | Hospitalization in 4 patients. No death. IBD patients do not have an increased risk of severe symptoms |
| Viganò et al., 2020 [23] |
IBD: 704 COVID-19: 53 |
Laboratory diagnosis (9 patients, 1.2%) or highly suspected clinic based on WHO criteria (+ contact or flu vaccine) | Lombardy | Until April 2020 | COVID-19 incidence in IBD patients (1.2%) comparable to general population (0.81%) Association between IBD severity and COVID-19 (OR:12.6, p = 0.01) |
| Lukin et al., 2020 [24] |
IBD e COVID-19: 80 COVID-19 non IBD: 160 |
Molecular swab (PCR) or highly suspected clinic | New York (USA) | 01 February 2020–30 April 2020 | Risk of ICU admission, intubation and death resulted minor in IBD patients compared to controls (24% vs. 35%) but the result is not statistically significative (p = 0.352) |
| Scaldaferri et al., 2020 [25] |
IBD: 1451 COVID-19: 5 |
Molecular swab (PCR) | Rome (Italy) | 04 March 2020–15 April 2020 | Only mild symptoms in positive patients |
| Allocca, Fiorino et al., 2020 [26] |
IBD: 6000 patients COVID-19: 15 |
Molecular swab (PCR) | Nancy (France) and Milan (Italy) | Since the beginning of pandemic (publication date: 30 April 2020) | COVID-19 incidence in IBD patients (0.0025) comparable to general population (0.0017) Mortality and need for hospitalization higher in general population (13% vs. 5%), 5 hospitalizations, 0 ICU admission 0 deaths |
| Singh et al., 2020 [27] |
IBD: 196,403 COVID-19: 232 Controls: 19,776 COVID-19 |
Laboratory diagnosis or COVID-19 diagnostic code after hospitalization | USA | 26 January 2020–26 May 2020 | Risk of severe disease (hospitalization and/or death within 30 days) comparable between IBD patients (56/232) and controls (4139/19,776), RR: 0.93, p = 0.66 |
| Gubatan et al., 2020 [28] |
IBD: 168 (tested) COVID-19: 5 |
Molecular swab (PCR) | Northern California (USA) | 04 March 2020–14 April 2020 | Positivity rate comparable between IBD patients (3%) and general population (2.8%) |
| Kjeldsen et al., 2021 [29] |
132 hospitalized patients for COVID-19 having IBD/RA/AS/psoriasis 2811 controls hospitalized for COVID-19 |
Hospitalized patients with COVID-19 diagnostic code (from national database) | Denmark | 01 March 2020–31 October 2020 | No significative differences between the group of patients with underlying diseases and controls in terms of hospital persistence (6.8 vs. 5.5 days), need for mechanical ventilation (7.6% vs. 9.4%), need for CPAP (11.4% vs. 8.8%), in-hospital, within 14 and 30 days mortality (17.4%, 20.5% e 21.2% vs. 15.2%, 18.1% e 19.1%, OR 0.71, 0.70 e 0.68) |
| Mao et al., 2020 [30] |
IBD: 20,000 COVID-19: 0 (the three biggest centers in Wuhan have been analyzed) |
Laboratory diagnosis | China | December 2019–08 March 2020 | 0 COVID-19 diagnosis |
| Attauabi et al., 2020 [31] |
IBD: 2486 COVID-19: 76 COVID-19 general population: 8476 out of 231601 swabs |
Molecular swab (PCR) | Denmark | 28 January 2020–02 June 2020 | Prevalence in IBD patients (2.5%) < general population (3.7%), p < 0.01 (with more tests performed in percentage in patients with IBD) Hospitalization in 25% of patients, need for oxygen-therapy in 18.4%, 4 deaths Dyspnea as presenting symptom is a risk factor for access ICU (OR: 19.7) |
IBD: inflammatory bowel disease. RA: rheumatoid arthritis. AS: ankylosing spondylitis. PCR: polymerase chain reaction. WHO: World Health Organization. ICU: intensive care unit. CPAP: continuous positive airway pressure.