Genetic risk stratification of inflammatory bowel disease-associated venous thromboembolism: An Asian perspective.

The utilisation of polygenic scoring models may enhance the clinician's ability to risk stratify an inflammatory bowel disease patient's individual risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE) and guide the appropriate usage of VTE thromboprophylaxis, yet there is a need to validate such models in ethnically diverse populations.

Paediatric gastrointestinal endoscopy in the Asian-Pacific region: Recent advances in diagnostic and therapeutic techniques.

There has been a rapid expansion in the knowledge of paediatric gastroenterology over the recent decade, with a fast-growing repertoire of diagnostic techniques and management strategies for a wide spectrum of childhood gastrointestinal (GI) diseases. Paediatric GI endoscopy is a core competency every paediatric gastroenterologist should possess, and represents one of the most common procedures performed in children for both diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Yet there remains a dearth of literature on the utility and outcomes of paediatric GI endoscopy in the Asia-Pacific region.

Precision medicine in inflammatory bowel disease: Individualizing the use of biologics and small molecule therapies.

The advent of biologics and small molecules in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has marked a significant turning point in the prognosis of IBD, decreasing the rates of corticosteroid dependence, hospitalizations and improving overall quality of life. The introduction of biosimilars has also increased affordability and enhanced access to these otherwise costly targeted therapies. Biologics do not yet represent a complete panacea: A subset of patients do not respond to first-line anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha agents or may subsequently demonstrate a secondary loss of response.

Epidemiological characteristics of Asian children with inflammatory bowel disease at diagnosis: Insights from an Asian-Pacific multi-centre registry network.

Background: There remains a dearth of Asian epidemiological literature for paediatric inflammatory bowel disease (PIBD).

Aim: To describe the presenting features of PIBD from 7 Asia-Pacific pediatric gastroenterology centers a central standardised electronic data platform.

Methods: Clinical, endoscopic and radiologic data at diagnosis from the registry were extracted between 1 January 1995 to 31 December 2019.

Antibiotic resistance patterns and therapeutic outcomes of pediatric Helicobacter pylori infection in a high-migrant Singaporean cohort.

Background: Variation in Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) disease in terms of prevalence and antibiotic resistance prevails globally requiring a need to develop region-specific surveillance. We aimed to assess the influence of immigration factors upon the interpretation of local Singaporean epidemiological trends in antimicrobial susceptibility patterns and therapeutic outcomes in children with culture-positive H.

Crohn's and Colitis Canada's 2021 Impact of COVID-19 and Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Canada: Health Care Delivery During the Pandemic and the Future Model of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Care.

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has had a profound impact on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) health care delivery. The implementation of necessary public health restrictions has restricted access to medications, procedures and surgeries throughout the pandemic, catalyzing widespread change in how IBD care is delivered. Rapid large-scale implementation of virtual care modalities has been shown to be feasible and acceptable for the majority of individuals with IBD and health care providers.

Crohn's and Colitis Canada's 2021 Impact of COVID-19 and Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Canada: COVID-19 Vaccines-Biology, Current Evidence and Recommendations.

The COVID-19 pandemic has ushered a globally focused vaccine development program that produced multiple successful vaccines within a year. Four SARS-CoV-2 vaccines have been approved for use in Canada, using two different technologies, all of which have shown excellent efficacy in reducing the rate of symptomatic COVID-19 infection and 100% efficacy in preventing death from COVID-19. People with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), like many others with immune-mediated chronic diseases, were excluded from the pivotal trials of these vaccines, leading to early hesitancy by regulatory bodies to endorse administering the vaccines to these groups.

Crohn's and Colitis Canada's 2021 Impact of COVID-19 and Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Canada: Mental Health and Quality of Life.

There has been a dramatic rise in mental health difficulties during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. While young adults have the lowest risk of hospitalization and mortality due to COVID-19, they have been identified as being at highest risk of detrimental mental health outcomes during the pandemic, along with women, those with lower socioeconomic status and those with pre-existing mental health conditions. Somewhat of a crisis in mental health has emerged across the general population through the evolution of the pandemic.

Crohn's and Colitis Canada's 2021 Impact of COVID-19 and Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Canada: Risk Factors and Medications.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a disease that results from dysregulation of the immune system and frequently requires medications that can affect the immune response to infections; therefore, it was imperative to quickly understand the risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection on persons living with IBD and how that risk may be increased by commonly used IBD medications. The IBD research community in Canada and beyond quickly established collaborative efforts to better understand the specific risk posed by COVID-19 on persons with IBD. We learned that IBD itself was not a risk factor for death or serious complications of COVID-19, and that most commonly used drug classes (with the notable exception of corticosteroids) do not increase the risk of COVID-19-related adverse outcomes.

Crohn's and Colitis Canada's 2021 Impact of COVID-19 and Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Canada: Seniors With IBD.

The risk of hospitalization and death from Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) increases with age. The extreme elderly have been particularly vulnerable, with those above the age of 80 having a case-fatality rate as high as 15%. Aging of the immune system can lead to impaired inflammatory responses where eradication of an organism such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) is inadequate but is exaggerated in such a way as to enhance pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Crohn's and Colitis Canada's 2021 Impact of COVID-19 and Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Canada: Children and Expectant Mothers With Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) typically results in a mild infection, similar to those without IBD. Children and adolescents have less severe manifestations of COVID-19 compared to older people, whether or not they have IBD. However, some IBD medications (in particular, corticosteroids) are associated with more severe COVID-19.

Crohn's and Colitis Canada's 2021 Impact of COVID-19 and Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Canada: Epidemiology-The Trends of Disease Over Time.

At the beginning of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, there were many unknowns: transmission vectors of the virus, appropriate intervention strategies and if being immunocompromised due to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), for example, or medications put a person at increased risk for severe COVID-19. Imposing and relaxing of public health restrictions at different times and in different regions in Canada led to different epidemiologies of the virus in different provinces and territories. In order to understand the waxing and waning of waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is necessary to understand the effective reproductive number ( ) and the countervailing forces that exert upward or downward pressure on the spread of the virus at a given point in time.

Crohn's and Colitis Canada's 2021 Impact of COVID-19 and Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Canada: Executive Summary.

Persons with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) make up more than 0.75% of the Canadian population in 2021. Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals with IBD, particularly those on immunosuppressive therapies, were concerned that their health status may place them at higher risk of contracting COVID-19 or experiencing more severe disease course if infected with SARS-CoV-2.

Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Asia: Epidemiology and natural history.

Pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (PIBD) in Asia, once considered a rare entity, has seen a sharp increase in incidence over the preceding decade. However, there is a paucity of epidemiological data on PIBD in Asia, and the true disease burden is difficult to estimate due to the lack of national disease registries, prospective databases and the fact that much of existing published data are limited to single-center experiences. This sets the stage for examining recent published data on epidemiological trends and its natural history.

Engineering microbes for targeted strikes against human pathogens.

Lack of pathogen specificity in antimicrobial therapy causes non-discriminant microbial cell killing that disrupts the microflora present. As a result, potentially helpful microbial cells are killed along with the pathogen, altering the biodiversity and dynamic interactions within the population. Moreover, the unwarranted exposure of antibiotics to microbes increases the likelihood of developing resistance and perpetuates the emergence of multidrug resistance.

Consensus and contentious statements on the use of probiotics in clinical practice: A south east Asian gastro-neuro motility association working team report.

The concept of consuming microorganisms in the treatment of a medical condition and in health maintenance has gained much attraction, giving rise to an abundance of medical claims and of health supplements. This study identified relevant clinical questions on the therapeutic use of probiotics and reviewed the literature in irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, impaired intestinal immunity, liver disease, intestinal infections, and common childhood digestive disorders. Statements were developed to address these clinical questions.

Risk factors and clinical outcomes of pediatric liver transplant recipients with post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease in a multi-ethnic Asian cohort.

Background: We aimed to evaluate clinical characteristics, risk factors, and disease outcomes for liver transplant recipients (LTR) with post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD) at our center.

Methods: Retrospective review of data of all pediatric LTR (1991-2015) was conducted.

Results: The overall incidence of PTLD was 16.

The Conundrum in the Diagnosis and Management of Atypical Fulminant Measles in a Leukemia Survivor on Maintenance Chemotherapy.

We report the diagnostic and therapeutic challenges in an unusually fulminant presentation of measles, presenting as severe necrotizing bronchiolitis with secondary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) in the absence of classical clinical features in an immunocompromised host on maintenance chemotherapy. Our patient had presented with features of a viral pneumonitis without the classical exanthem, in combination with HLH. Although rhinovirus-induced HLH was highly unusual, the positive rhinovirus swab result had distracted us from the eventual diagnosis.