Coronavirus disease 2019 and gastrointestinal disorders in children.

During the past 3 years, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a great impact on people all over the world. However, it has become evident that disease manifestations and severity differ across age groups. Most children have a milder disease course than adults but possibly more pronounced gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms. Given the child's developing immune system, the impact of COVID-19 on disease development may differ compared to adults. This study reviews the potential bi-directional relationship between COVID-19 and GI diseases in children, focusing on common pediatric conditions such as functional GI disorders (FGID), celiac disease (CeD), and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Children with GI diseases, in general, and CeD and IBD, in particular, do not seem to have an increased risk of severe COVID-19, including risks of hospitalization, critical care need, and death. While infections are considered candidate environmental factors in both CeD and IBD pathogenesis, and specific infectious agents are known triggers for FGID, there is still not sufficient evidence to implicate COVID-19 in the development of either of these diseases. However, given the scarcity of data and the possible latency period between environmental triggers and disease development, future investigations in this field are warranted.

Celiac Disease and Serious Infections: A Nationwide Cohort Study From 2002 to 2017.

INTRODUCTION: Patients with celiac disease (CD) have an increased risk of encapsulated bacterial infections. Less is known about other serious infections in CD, especially in patients diagnosed in the 21st century. METHODS: We contacted all 28 pathology departments in Sweden through the Epidemiology Strengthened by histoPathology Reports in Sweden (ESPRESSO) cohort study and identified 20,088 individuals with CD (defined as villous atrophy) diagnosed in 2002-2017. Patients were matched for sex, age, and calendar year to 80,152 general population comparators and followed up until December 31, 2019. Serious infections were defined as having a hospital-based (inpatient and outpatient) diagnosis in the National Patient Register. Cox regression yielded adjusted hazard ratios (aHR) controlling for education, country of birth, and comorbidities. RESULTS: During 173,695 person-years of follow-up, 6,167 individuals with CD (35.5/1,000 person-years) had a serious infection. This was compared with 19,131 infections during 743,260 person-years (25.7/1,000 person-years) in matched comparators, corresponding to an aHR of 1.29 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.25-1.33). aHR were similar when restricted to infection requiring hospital admission (1.23; 95% CI = 1.17-1.29). The excess risk of serious infections also persisted beyond the first year after CD diagnosis (aHR = 1.24; 95% CI = 1.20-1.29). Patients with CD were at risk of sepsis (aHR = 1.26; 95% CI = 1.09-1.45) and gastrointestinal infections (1.60; 95% CI = 1.47-1.74). Mucosal healing during CD follow-up did not influence the risk of subsequent serious infections. DISCUSSION: This nationwide study of patients with celiac disease diagnosed in the 21st century revealed a significantly increased risk of serious infections. While absolute risks were modest, vaccinations should be considered during CD follow-up care.

Risk of infections and their role on subsequent mortality in biopsy-proven alcohol-related liver disease.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The risk for infection in alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) has rarely been investigated at a population level, nor if the underlying liver histopathology is associated with infection risk. We examined the rate of hospital-based infections in a nationwide cohort of biopsy-proven ALD, and the subsequent risk of death. METHODS: Population-based cohort study in Sweden comparing 4028 individuals with an international classification of disease (ICD) code for ALD and a liver biopsy from 1969 to 2017 with 19,296 matched general population individuals. Swedish national registers were used to ascertain incident infections in secondary or tertiary care and subsequent mortality until 2019. We used Cox regression, adjusted for sex, age, education, country of birth, diabetes, and number of hospitalizations in the year preceding liver biopsy date, to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) in ALD and histopathological subgroups compared to reference individuals. RESULTS: Median age at ALD diagnosis was 59 years, 65% were men and 59% had cirrhosis at baseline. Infections were more common in patients with ALD (84 cases/1000 person-years [PY]) compared to reference individuals (29/1000 PYs; adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 3.06, 95% CI = 2.85-3.29). This excess risk corresponded to one additional infection per 18 ALD patients each year. The rate of infections was particularly high in individuals with cirrhosis (aHR = 3.46) and in those with decompensation (aHR = 5.20). Restricting our data to those with an infection, ALD (aHR = 3.63, 95%CI = 3.36-3.93), and especially ALD cirrhosis (aHR = 4.31, 95%CI = 3.89-4.78) were linked to subsequent death. CONCLUSIONS: Individuals with biopsy-proven ALD have a three-fold increased rate of infections compared with the general population. The risk of death after an infection is also considerably higher in individuals with ALD.

Does Celiac Disease Influence Survival in Sepsis? A Nationwide Longitudinal Study.

BACKGROUND: Individuals with celiac disease (CD) are at increased risk of sepsis. The aim of this study was to examine whether CD influences survival in sepsis of bacterial origin. METHODS: Nationwide longitudinal registry-based study. Through data on small intestinal biopsies from Sweden's 28 pathology departments, we identified 29,096 individuals with CD (villous atrophy, Marsh stage III). Each individual with CD was matched with five population-based controls. Among these, 5,470 had a record of sepsis according to the Swedish Patient Register (1,432 celiac individuals and 4,038 controls). Finally we retrieved data on mortality in sepsis patients through the Swedish Cause of Death Registry. RESULTS: CD was associated with a 19% increase in overall mortality after sepsis (95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.09-1.29), with the highest relative risk occurring in children (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) = 1.62; 95%CI = 0.67-3.91). However, aHR for death from sepsis was lower (aHR = 1.10) and failed to reach statistical significance (95%CI = 0.72-1.69). CD did not influence survival within 28 days after sepsis (aHR = 0.98; 95%CI = 0.80-1.19). CONCLUSIONS: Although individuals with CD seem to be at an increased risk of overall death after sepsis, that excess risk does not differ from the general excess mortality previously seen in celiac patients in Sweden. CD as such does not seem to influence short-term or sepsis-specific survival in individuals with sepsis and therefore is not an independent risk factor for poor prognosis in sepsis.