Objective:

To evaluate the infection risk associated with vedolizumab (VDZ) in patients with inflammatory bowel disease and to compare its safety with tumor necrosis factor inhibitors, ustekinumab, and placebo.

Approach:

Key Findings:

• Overall pooled infection incidence was 13.08% (95% CI: 9.85–17.18%), with respiratory tract infections being the most common (4.25%).
• Serious systemic and rare infections were infrequent.
• No significant difference in infection risk was observed between VDZ and TNF inhibitors (RR = 0.91) or placebo (RR = 1.02).
• VDZ was associated with a significantly higher risk compared with ustekinumab (RR = 1.63).
• Meta-regression identified study design and geographic region as significant moderators.

Interpretation:

Limitations:

• Extreme heterogeneity limits the clinical utility of pooled incidence estimates.
• Variations in study design, sample size, and definitions of infectious events may affect results.

Conclusion:

Sources:

• Systematic Review Registration
Source

Based on findings from:

Infection risk in inflammatory bowel disease patients treated with vedolizumab: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Lidan Zhang, Xiaogang Hao, Yidan Cui, Wenjian Yan, Kun Shang, Xin Zhang. Frontiers In Medicine, 2026.

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/medicine/articles/10.3389/fmed.2026.1806488/full

Attribution Notice

This content is an AI-generated, fully rewritten summary based on a published scholarly article. It does not reproduce the original text and is not a substitute for the original publication. Readers are encouraged to consult the source for full context, data, and methodology.