GI infections with viruses, bacteria or other parasites can cause inflamation and is probably over all much more common than inflamation caused by an autoimmune disease (which is what the IBD's are). This is the sort of inflamation that will go away and not come back until there is another infection with something.Everyone at some point in their life is likely to get an infection that causes detectable inflamation in the colon. Autoimmune diseases effect only a small portion of the population.K.