Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Vaccines 1. Inflammatory Bowel Disease, also known as IBD, is a general medical term used to refer to chronic inflammatory diseases of the intestine. Two common inflammatory bowel diseases are ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. These chronic illnesses can inflame the gastrointestinal tract causing bloody diarrhea, abdominal pain, and weight loss.
Ulcerative colitis can affect the entire large intestine or the rectum.
Crohn's disease mainly affects short segments of both the small and large intestine. Although IBD can begin at any age, it's usual onset is from age 15 to 30 years. IBD is a rare disease with 3-20 new cases recognized per 100,000 persons per year. IBD is known to occur in the same family suggesting a possible inherited cause. A possible environmental cause is suggested because Crohn's disease most often occurs in people who smoke , residents of Northern European countries and in urban areas.