Influenza is an extremely contagious airborne disease caused by influenza viruses. It can cause mild to severe illness, and even death. Patients who have inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have a higher risk of getting serious complications if they are infected. Current guidelines recommend the influenza vaccine for IBD patients. However, many IBD patients take immunosuppressive agents and we are uncertain as to their capacity to mount a truly protective response after vaccination. This is an important area of research because if IBD patients do not have an adequate immunological response, then we may need to enhance their response by increasing the dosage or giving booster shots.