Second GISI Webinar

The second GISI Webinar on “Infections in IBD” was a huge success with >500 participants and >200 live attendees. The webinar was also supported by the South Asian IBD Alliance. The Webinar began with a talk on “Flares in mild to moderate UC: Whats new? By Dr Sumit Bhatia. This was followed by a talk on “Managing IBD associated Opportunistic infections and cardiovascular risk by Dr KT Shenoy.

Prof Bincy Abraham, from Houston Methodist, spoke on Antibiotics for IBD. She mentioned the use of antibiotics in Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and pouchitis. The second talk was on assessing and managing risk of TB with biologics and small molecules by Prof Vineet Ahuja from AIIMS, Delhi. He spoke on evidence-based approach to latent TB in IBD patients planned for various IBD therapies

Dr Deepak Parakkal, from Washington University of St Louis, spoke on COVID vaccination in IBD. He spoke from the experience gained from COVaRiPAD study.

Prof Francis Farraye, from Mayo Clinic Florida, spoke on Routine vaccination in IBD. He soke from more than a decade of his practical experience and provided insights on how vaccinations could be organized for patients in India.

Society News

Prof Sahil Khanna, co-editor in chief for JGI, informed about the exciting changes forthcoming at the journal. Prof C Vaishnavi informed that the webinars will be continued and the society will further increase its educational activities.

In the meeting a guideline on “Vaccination in IBD for resource limiting setting including India” was announced which would be led by Dr Vishal Sharma. Prof Francis A Farraye, agreed to provide help in organising the guideline with his extensive experience.