Impact of Immunotherapies on SARS-CoV-2-Infections and Other Respiratory Tract Infections during the COVID-19 Winter Season in IBD Patients.

Background: COVID-19 represents one of the most significant medical problems of our time.

Aims: This study is focused on the question whether patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) who receive immunotherapies are more vulnerable to respiratory tract infections and SARS-CoV-2 infections in comparison to medical staff, as a cohort with an increased infection risk, and to the general population in a COVID-19 hotspot.

Methods: We analysed data regarding respiratory tract infections that were collected in our IBD registry and compared them with corresponding data from medical employees in our associated Isarklinikum hospital and from the healthy general population in Munich, Germany, over the same time frame in April and June 2020.