Gastrointestinal SARS CoV-2 Infection and The Dynamic of Its Detection in Stool

Authors

Rafik Elbeblawy, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of LouisvilleFollow
Mohammed Abbas, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of LouisvilleFollow
Islam Gadelmoula, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of LouisvilleFollow
Akshitha Kolla, Washington Health Institute, Washington D.C.Follow
Bettina Sinanova, Washington Health Institute, Washington, D.C.Follow
Jose Bordon, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Louisville. Washington Health Institute, Washington D.C.Follow

Funder

The author(s) received no specific funding for this work

Abstract

Introduction: SARS-CoV-2 has been strongly associated with respiratory illnesses; however the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection of the gastrointestinal tract is not fully clear. We examined the frequency of positive stool SARS-CoV-2 reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in COVID-19 patients, duration of stool viral shedding after the viral clearance of respiratory samples, and the association of SARS-CoV-2 infection with gastrointestinal symptoms.

Methods: We did a search in PubMed and Google Scholar of studies published in the English language before June 30th, 2020. Search queries included: “COVID-19”, “SARS-CoV-2”, and “stool SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR”. We excluded studies with less than 8 patients from our review.

Results: Among the 707 patients who had respiratory samples positive for SARS-CoV-2, 361 (51%) patients tested positive through stool SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR. Of 198 patients who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in stool, 101 (51%) patients continued testing positive after respiratory samples were negative by RT-PCR. The longest duration of positive SARS-CoV-2 in stool was 48 days, 33 days after a negative result from upper respiratory samples. Out of 200 patients who had positive fecal PCR for SARS-CoV-2, 95 patients (47.5%) had at least one gastrointestinal manifestation.

Conclusions: About one-half of COVID-19 patients had positive stool SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR, and 51% of patients had positive stool SARS CoV-2 RT-PCR after their respiratory samples became negative for SARS-CoV-2 by RT-PCR. At least one gastrointestinal symptom was reported in 47.5% of patients with a positive stool SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR.

DOI

10.18297/jri/vol4/iss1/61

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Elbeblawy, Rafik; Abbas, Mohammed; Gadelmoula, Islam; Kolla, Akshitha; Sinanova, Bettina; and Bordon, Jose (2020) "Gastrointestinal SARS CoV-2 Infection and The Dynamic of Its Detection in Stool," The University of Louisville Journal of Respiratory Infections: Vol. 4 : Iss. 1 , Article 61.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18297/jri/vol4/iss1/61
Available at: https://ir.library.louisville.edu/jri/vol4/iss1/61