[Gastroenterology] Gastrointestinal manifestations of SARS-CoV-2 infection and virus load in fecal samples from the Hong Kong cohort and systematic review and meta-analysis

Gastroenterology, 6 Apr 2020

Ka Shing Cheung, Ivan FN. Hung, Pierre PY. Chan, K.C. Lung, Eugene Tso, Raymond Liu, Y.Y. Ng, Man Y. Chu, Tom WH. Chung, Anthony Raymond Tam, Cyril CY. Yip, Kit-Hang Leung, Agnes Yim-Fong Fung, Ricky R. Zhang, Yansheng Lin, Ho Ming Cheng, Anna JX. Zhang, Kelvin KW. To, Kwok-H. Chan, Kwok-Y. Yuen, Wai K. Leung

Infection with SARS-CoV-2 causes COVID-19, which has been characterized by fever, respiratory, and gastrointestinal symptoms as well as shedding of virus RNA into feces. Researchers including HKU professors performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of published gastrointestinal symptoms and detection of virus in stool, and also summarized data from a cohort of patients with COVID-19 in Hong Kong.

Highlights

• Collected data from the cohort of patients with COVID-19 in Hong Kong (n=59; diagnosis from February 2 through Feb 29, 2020), and searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane and three Chinese databases through March 11, 2020.
• 17.6% of patients with COVID-19 had gastrointestinal symptoms.
• Virus RNA was detected in stool samples from 48.1% patients, even in stool collected after respiratory samples tested negative.
• Healthcare workers should therefore exercise caution in collecting fecal samples or performing endoscopic procedures in patients with COVID-19, even during patient recovery.

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