ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Studies on how the coronavirus pandemic has affected pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (PIBD) are lacking. We aimed to investigate the trends in epidemiology, characteristics, initial management, and short-term outcomes of PIBD in South Korea over the recent three years including the era of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). METHODS: This multicenter study retrospectively investigated temporal trends in the epidemiology of PIBD in Korea. Annual occurrences, disease phenotypes, and initial management at diagnosis were analyzed from January 2018 to June 2021. RESULTS: A total of 486 patients from 17 institutions were included in this epidemiological evaluation. Analysis of the occurrence trend confirmed a significant increase in PIBD, regardless of the COVID-19 pandemic. In Crohn's disease, patients with post-coronavirus outbreaks had significantly higher fecal calprotectin levels than those with previous onset (1,339.4 ± 717.04 vs. 1,595.5 ± 703.94, P = 0.001). Patients with post-coronavirus-onset ulcerative colitis had significantly higher Pediatric Ulcerative Colitis Activity Index scores than those with previous outbreaks (48 ± 17 vs. 36 ± 15, P = 0.004). In the initial treatment of Crohn's disease, the use of 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) and steroids significantly decreased (P = 0.006 and 0.001, respectively), and enteral nutrition and the use of infliximab increased significantly (P = 0.045 and 0.009, respectively). There was a significant increase in azathioprine use during the initial treatment of ulcerative colitis (P = 0.020). CONCLUSION: Regardless of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of patients with PIBD is increasing significantly annually in Korea. The initial management trends for PIBD have also changed. More research is needed to establish appropriate treatment guidelines considering the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of Korean PIBD.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Colitis, Ulcerative , Crohn Disease , Inflammatory Bowel Diseases , Azathioprine , COVID-19/epidemiology , Colitis, Ulcerative/diagnosis , Crohn Disease/diagnosis , Crohn Disease/drug therapy , Crohn Disease/epidemiology , Humans , Inflammatory Bowel Diseases/diagnosis , Inflammatory Bowel Diseases/epidemiology , Infliximab , Leukocyte L1 Antigen Complex , Mesalamine/therapeutic use , Pandemics , Republic of Korea/epidemiology , Retrospective StudiesABSTRACT
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded the emergency use authorization for the BNT162b2 messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech) for children aged 12-15 years on 10 May 2021. To date, less than a year has passed since vaccination against COVID-19 has been used in children and adolescents, and the overall effects and safety of these vaccines are still being assessed. The BNT162b2 vaccine originally had a favorable profile in 12-17-year-old recipients compared with older ages, and no serious adverse events had previously been reported. Despite various adverse events, the benefit of reducing the infection rate or the frequency of severe COVID-19 has been evaluated to outweigh the harm caused by COVID-19 vaccination. Additionally, several cases of sudden development of new-onset or relapsing glomerular diseases, including acute kidney injury (AKI), have been reported in adults following the BNT162b2 SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine. Herein, we present two cases of adolescents who developed AKI following the second administration of the BNT162b2. These are the first pediatric cases of acute tubulointerstitial nephritis temporarily linked to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination.