Should My Patient with Inflammatory Bowel Disease on Immunosuppressive Therapy be Vaccinated against Influenza Virus?

Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are variants of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) for which immunosuppressive therapy is often required. Immunosuppressed patients are at increased risk for infections, including vaccine-preventable diseases such as influenza. Although several guidelines recommend routine influenza immunization for such patients, recent literature suggests that this patient population may be inadequately immunized. Current …