No severe side-effects of Coronavirus vaccine among bowel patients, finds study

Patients suffering from the inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) do not suffer from any increased risk after getting Moderna or Pfizer Coronavirus vaccine. The findings were published in a study in American Journal of Gastroenterology, the Indian Express reported. The study was conducted to ascertain if the patients suffering from bowel disease faced increased risk after getting administered with the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine. On the contrary, the study found that patients who were already being treated with the immune-modifying therapies may end up experiencing lesser side-effects of the vaccine than the general population.

Patients who are suffering from bowel disease develop a condition in which their intestinal immune system becomes over-reactive resulting in severe diarrhoea and other digestion-related problems.

What did the study find?
As part of the study, the researchers from the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, US, analysed the side effects among 246 bowel disease patients who had been vaccinated with Coronavirus vaccine. The researchers found that the patients reported side-effects similar to those experienced by the general population after the vaccination. The side-effects reported in the patients who were part of the study included pain, fatigue, headache, dizziness, fever and chills among others. The researchers found that the symptoms lasted only for a few days and were mild in nature. A very small section of the bowel patients suffered from severe post-vaccination side effects with only two patients out of 246 reporting severe gastrointestinal symptoms.

The study was conducted amidst concerns expressed by the bowel patients that their condition would worsen after they are administered with Coronavirus vaccines. The researchers concluded that the side-effects reported in the patients were short-lived like those experienced by the general population and resolved on their own. The researchers also disclosed that 80 percent of the patients who were part of the study were being treated with the advanced therapies that rein in the immune system of the body. The study also said that the subdued immune system may have led to exhibition of less severe side-effects in the bowel patients.