Should patients with Crohn's disease receive immunizations?
Since many patients with Crohn's disease are on immunomodulators or may eventually end up on immunomodulators, routine vaccination against
influenza,
H1N1, pneumococcus, tetanus, and
hepatitis B is recommended. The
HPV vaccine is recommended for young women. For those patients not previously exposed to varicella (chicken pox) and not currently on immunomodulators, the varicella vaccine is also advised.
Patients who are already on immunomodulators or high doses of
prednisone should not receive live vaccines, such as varicella, yellow fever, measles-mumps-rubella, and oral typhoid, and should only receive injection forms of the flu vaccinations.