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Biologics safer than Azathioprine regarding Covid?

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 12/28/2021 7:47 PM (GMT -5)
Hi, my GI recently mentioned that the protocol has changed in Spain since Covid and now they are prioritizing biologics over Azathioprine.

She mentioned that apparently Azathioprine is worse at dealing with viruses than a biologic. With a biologic its bacteria that is more of a concern but there are known remedies for that (antibiotics).

Has anybody else heard or read anything similar?

I will hopefully be getting onto a biologic in January since Azathioprine is just not cutting it anymore. I am hopeful that it will get me out of this year long, daily bleeding with every BM flare..but a little worried at the same time about side effects.

I would love to try the diet route but have no experience in eating well and exercising and feel that its probably a better idea to get out of this via a biologic then get used to a healthier lifestyle.
Posted 12/29/2021 3:38 AM (GMT -5)
I've not heard that about azathioprine directly but i have heard that biologics make you more susceptible to bacterial infections while xeljanz makes you more susceptible to viral infections. It's not black and white though as these drugs are blocking certain immune pathways so it depends on the infection in question. E.g. jak inhibitors (of which xeljanz is one) as well as biologics are associated with preventing (or reducing the risk of) a cytokene storm following a covid infection. My understanding with azathioprine is it lowers your white blood cells making you more susceptible to everything. In any case having been on both i definitely felt happy coming off azathioprine and the biologics for me were more effective...
Posted 12/30/2021 9:20 PM (GMT -5)
Generally biologics have a better outcome against COVID-19 than azathiopurine. Supporting data:

https://covidibd.org/current-data/
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