SARS-CoV-2 vaccination for patients with inflammatory bowel disease: a British Society of Gastroenterology Inflammatory Bowel Disease section and IBD Clinical Research Group position statement

Alexander, James L.; Moran, Gordon; Gaya, Daniel R.; Raine, Tim; Hart, Ailsa; Kennedy, Nicholas A.; Lindsay, James O.; MacDonald, Jonathan; Segal, Jonathan P.; Sebastian, Shaji; Selinger, Christian P.; Parkes, Miles; Smith, Philip J.; Dhar, Anjan; Subramanian, Sreedhar; Arasaradnam, Ramesh; Lamb, Christopher A.; Ahmad, Tariq; Lees, Charlie W.; Dobson, Liz; Wakeman, Ruth; Iqbal, Tariq H.; Arnott, Ian; Powell, Nick

Abstract

SARS-CoV2 has caused a global health crisis and mass vaccination programmes provide the best opportunity for controlling transmission and protecting populations. Despite the impressive clinical trial results of the BNT162b2 (Pfizer/BioNTech), ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine (Oxford/AstraZeneca) and mRNA-1273 (Moderna) vaccines, important unanswered questions remain, especially in patients with pre-existing conditions. In this position statement endorsed by the British Society of Gastroenterology Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) section and IBD Clinical Research Group, we consider SARS-CoV2 vaccination strategy in patients with IBD. The risks of SARS-CoV2 vaccination are anticipated to be very low, and we strongly support SARS-CoV2 vaccination in IBD patients. Based on data from previous studies with other vaccines, there are conceptual concerns that protective immune responses to SARS-CoV2 vaccination may be diminished in some IBD patients, such as those taking anti-TNF drugs. However, the benefits of vaccination, even in anti-TNF treated patients, are likely to outweigh these theoretical concerns. Key areas for further research are discussed, including vaccine hesitancy and its effect in the IBD community, the impact of immunosuppression on vaccine efficacy and the search for predictive biomarkers of vaccine success.

Citation

Alexander, J. L., Moran, G., Gaya, D. R., Raine, T., Hart, A., Kennedy, N. A., Lindsay, J. O., MacDonald, J., Segal, J. P., Sebastian, S., Selinger, C. P., Parkes, M., Smith, P. J., Dhar, A., Subramanian, S., Arasaradnam, R., Lamb, C. A., Ahmad, T., Lees, C. W., Dobson, L., …Powell, N. (2021). SARS-CoV-2 vaccination for patients with inflammatory bowel disease: a British Society of Gastroenterology Inflammatory Bowel Disease section and IBD Clinical Research Group position statement. The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology, 6(3), 218-224. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-1253%2821%2900024-8

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 13, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Jan 26, 2021
• Publication Date: 2021-03
• Deposit Date: Jan 14, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 27, 2021
• Journal: Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology
• Electronic ISSN: 2468-1253
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 6
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 218-224
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-1253%2821%2900024-8
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5227081
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2468125321000248