Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Patients with COVID-19

Authors

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

Funder

The authors received no specific funding for this work

Abstract

Introduction: Though coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is predominantly a respiratory illness, a growing number of studies reported gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms among these patients. We examined the incidence of GI symptoms in patients with COVID-19 and GI symptoms as the initial presentation of the disease.

Methods: We examined peer-reviewed studies in English of patients with COVID-19 that reported GI symptoms. We searched PubMed and Google Scholar for articles published up to June 30, 2020, by using the keywords ``COVID-19,'' ``Coronavirus,'' ``severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2,'', ``SARS-CoV-2,'' ``gastrointestinal tract,'' ``gastrointestinal diseases,'' and ``gastrointestinal symptoms and signs.'' Studies with fewer than 30 patients and also those studies that did not report nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea were excluded.

Results: We reviewed 26 studies that reported GI symptoms among patients with COVID-19. Twenty-three studies were from China, and the three remaining studies were from three different countries: the US, France, and South Korea. The mean age of patients was 47.2 years, and 50.3% were females. Out of a total of 7,212 patients, 672 patients had nausea and/or vomiting (8.7%), and 732 (9.5%) had diarrhea; 6.8% of patients had GI symptoms as the initial presentation of COVID-19.

Conclusion: GI symptoms are not common in COVID-19 patients. However, the recognition of GI symptoms may significantly help in implementing steps to prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission. Testing for COVID-19 in patients presenting with only GI symptoms may help detect and prevent the spread of COVID-19.

DOI

10.18297/jri/vol4/iss1/62

Creative Commons License

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

Recommended Citation

Abbas, Mohammed; Elbeblawy, Rafik; Gadelmoula, Islam; Rekha, Suvarna; Sinanova, Bettina; and Bordon, Jose (2020) "Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Patients with COVID-19," The University of Louisville Journal of Respiratory Infections: Vol. 4 : Iss. 1 , Article 62.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18297/jri/vol4/iss1/62
Available at: https://ir.library.louisville.edu/jri/vol4/iss1/62