{"id":3715,"date":"2022-02-17T22:35:23","date_gmt":"2022-02-17T22:35:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/?p=3715"},"modified":"2022-02-17T22:35:23","modified_gmt":"2022-02-17T22:35:23","slug":"how-covid-19-affects-the-gut-scientists-uncover-a-rare-side-effect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/?p=3715","title":{"rendered":"HOW COVID-19 AFFECTS THE GUT: SCIENTISTS UNCOVER A RARE SIDE EFFECT"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Authors: published on The Conversation<\/a> by <\/em><\/strong>Vincent Ho<\/em><\/strong><\/a> at Western Sydney University. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although we might think of Covid-19 as a respiratory disease, we know it involves the gut. In fact, SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, enters our cells by latching onto protein receptors called ACE2. And the greatest numbers of ACE2 receptors<\/a> are in the cells that line the gut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Covid-19 patients with gut symptoms are also more likely to develop severe disease<\/a>. That\u2019s partly because even after the virus has been cleared from the respiratory system, it can persist<\/a> in the gut of some patients for several days. That leads to a high level of virus and longer-lasting disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also suspect the virus can be transmitted<\/a> via the fecal-oral route. In other words, the virus can be shed in someone\u2019s poo, and then transmitted to someone else if they handle it and touch their mouth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WHAT TYPE OF GUT SYMPTOMS ARE WE TALKING ABOUT?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A review<\/a> of more than 25,000 Covid-19 patients found about 18% had gastrointestinal symptoms. The most common was diarrhea followed by nausea and vomiting. Abdominal pain was considered rare. In another study<\/a> only about 2% of Covid-19 patients had abdominal pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Some people believe Covid-19 causes abdominal pain through inflammation<\/a> of the nerves of the gut<\/a>. This is a similar way to how gastroenteritis (gastro) causes abdominal pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another explanation<\/a> for the pain is that Covid-19 can lead to a sudden loss of blood supply to abdominal organs, such as the kidneys, resulting in tissue death (infarction).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ARE GUT SYMPTOMS RECOGNIZED?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The US Centers for Disease Control<\/a> has added diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting to its list of recognized Covid-19 symptoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the World Health Organization<\/a> still only lists diarrhea as a gastrointestinal Covid-19 symptom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Australia, nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting are listed<\/a> as other Covid-19 symptoms, alongside the classic ones (which include fever, cough, sore throat and shortness of breath). But abdominal pain is not listed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advice of symptoms that warrant testing may vary across different states and territories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HOW LIKELY IS IT?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Doctors often use the concept of pre-test probability<\/a> when working out if someone has a particular disease. This is the chance a person has the disease before we know the test result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What makes it difficult to determine the pre-test probability for Covid-19 is we don\u2019t know how many people in the community truly have the disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We do know, however, Covid-19 in Australia is much less common<\/a> than in many other countries. This affects the way we view symptoms that aren\u2019t typically associated with Covid-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s far more common for people\u2019s abdominal pain to be caused by something other than Covid-19. For example, about a quarter of people<\/a> at some point in their lives are known to suffer from dyspepsia (discomfort or pain<\/a> in the upper abdomen). But the vast majority of people with dyspepsia do not have Covid-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, irritable bowel syndrome affects about 9% of Australians<\/a>, and causes diarrhea. Again, the vast majority of people with irritable bowel syndrome do not have Covid-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SO HOW ABOUT THIS LATEST CASE?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In the Queensland case, we know the nurse was worried<\/a> he could have had Covid-19 because he was in close contact with Covid-19 patients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As he seemed otherwise healthy before developing new abdominal symptoms, and considering he worked on a Covid ward<\/a>, his pre-test probability was high. Doctors call this a \u201chigh index of suspicion\u201d when there is a strong possibility someone may have symptoms due to a disease such as Covid-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR ME?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you have new gastrointestinal symptoms and<\/em> you\u2019ve potentially been in contact with someone with COVID-19 or<\/em> if you also have other classic Covid-19 symptoms (fever, cough, shortness of breath and sore throat) you should definitely get tested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have just gastrointestinal symptoms, you may need to get tested if you\u2019re in a \u201chotspot\u201d area, or work in a high-risk occupation or industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have gastrointestinal symptoms alone, without any of these additional risk factors, there is no strong evidence to support testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, if Covid-19 becomes even more common in the community, these symptoms now regarded as uncommon for Covid-19 will become more common.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have concerns about any gastrointestinal symptoms, seeing your GP would be sensible. Your GP will provide a balanced assessment based on your medical history and risk profile.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Authors: published on The Conversation by Vincent Ho at Western Sydney University. Although we might think of Covid-19 as a respiratory disease, we know it involves the gut. In fact, SARS-CoV-2, the virus that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3725,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[660,122,815],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abdominal-pain","category-digestion","category-gastrointestinal-symptoms-covid-19"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3715"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3715\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}