Full hospitals are bad if you rely on regular visits
By: Hannah Stevenson
At 7 PM, many cities around the world erupt in cheers for the healthcare heroes that fight every day on the front lines of this pandemic. Most of us live our lives avoiding hospital visits- usually a sign that something has gone very wrong. For doctors, nurses, and healthcare workers hospitals are a workplace and an everyday occurrence. Amidst all the fear, uncertainty, and challenges brought about by the Coronavirus, people who rely on the hospital and its staff must also make sacrifices as doctors and nurses are needed to fight this pandemic.
Those with chronic illnesses- like IBD, Crohn’s, and liver disorders- often rely on frequent doctor appointments, hospital visits, and even surgery and testing. During this pandemic, many of these are limited, postponed, or cancelled, leaving IBD patients waiting through uncomfortable symptoms or ill-managed diseases.
The most pressing risk to IBD patients is lack of access to vital medications, particularly immunosuppressants. Immunosuppressants are key to managing many patients’ most terrible symptoms, but also leave the patient with a depleted- or suppressed- immune system. While early preliminary studies show that IBD patients are not necessarily at any higher risk for contracting COVID-19, there are strong associations between IBD and Immunodeficiency as well as Autoimmune Disorders. Those with Immunodeficiency, or immunocompromised people, have depleted or inefficient immune systems, leaving them much more vulnerable to coronavirus and its symptoms. Those who are immunocompromised must take great precautions, many cannot risk allowing themselves or household members to leave their own house- even receiving deliveries pose threat of infection. Furthermore, immunocompromised people who have contracted illnesses must fight much harder to combat them, and often requiring hospital visits and special equipment.
For children with IBD, this can mean being cooped up indoors all day- often while coping with painful and uncomfortable symptoms. Imagine being a child who wants to play with their friends in the sunshine, but instead is ill and indoors for months!
At the CH.I.L.D. Foundation, we have spent 25 years working with amazing researchers, doctors, nurses, and healthcare professionals. We know how hard they work, how often they put themselves at risk, and how selflessly they strive to heal others. We are so grateful for them; especially as recent events have highlighted the importance of good health and those who work for it.
Finding a cure to IBD has never been more important, or more possible. To all of our supporters, friends- and especially healthcare partners- be safe and show support to those who need it most.
Studies cited:
Glocker, Erik, and Bodo Grimbacher. “Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Is It a Primary Immunodeficiency?” Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, vol. 69, no. 1, 2011, pp. 41–48., doi:10.1007/s00018-011-0837-9.
Snook, JA, et al. “The Association of Autoimmune Disorders with Inflammatory Bowel Disease.” QJM: An International Journal of Medicine, 1989, doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.qjmed.a068372.
Danese, S., Cecconi, M. & Spinelli, A. Management of IBD during the COVID-19 outbreak: resetting clinical priorities. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-020-0294-8