Educating Gastrointestinal Patients About the Benefits of Vaccination

Host: Peter Buch, MD, FACG, AGAF, FACP Guest: Francis Farraye, MD Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have an increased risk of developing infections, and some may be preventable with a vaccine. Approximately 70 percent of patients with ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease will be on immunosuppressive therapy at some point during their treatment course, so it’s best to try to address vaccines before they’re immunosuppressed. So to walk us through some strategies for increasing the number of patients with gastrointestinal diseases who get vaccinated, Dr. Peter Buch is joined by Dr. Farraye, Co-Author of the article, titled “How to Implement a Successful Vaccination Program in Outpatient Gastroenterology Practices: A Focus on Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Chronic Liver Disease,” which appeared in Gastroenterology in 2023 and Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, where he also directs the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center.