Three New Treatments Bring Good News for People With Crohn's

The second research study was conducted in order to examine the safety of using infliximab in the treatment of patients with Crohn's disease. It examined how being treated with immunosuppressants, steroids, or infliximab affected a patient's risk of developing serious bacterial infections. The study was carried out by analyzing the information of a healthcare utilization database founded by British Columbia for Crohn's Patients. The records showed that there were almost 11,500 patients with Crohn's disease, and 16,699 total episodes of treatment with at least 1 of these 3 medications. The researchers identified a total of 104 bacterial infections that were serious enough to warrant hospitalization. Combination therapy that included a mixture of both steroids and infliximab results in a higher risk rate and combination therapy that included a mixture of immunosuppressants and infliximab results in nearly double the risk of infection. While immunosuppressants and steroids were each administered individually, the risk of infection seemed to increase. However, there was no increased risk for infection in patients who only took infliximab for treatment.