Fecal-oral transmission of SARS-CoV-2: review of laboratory-confirmed virus in gastrointestinal system.
Int J Colorectal Dis
; 36(3): 437-444, 2021 Mar.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-871462
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE:
The objective was to collect the data available regarding the presence of laboratory-confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in gastrointestinal system and to evaluate whether the digestive system could contribute to viral transmission.METHODS:
Bibliographic databases were searched to identify all studies documenting, in adult patients with a confirmed diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) (1) the presence of SARS-CoV-2 ribonucleic acid in the feces; (2) the presence of SARS-CoV-2 ribonucleic acid in the intestinal cells; (3) live SARS-CoV-2 in the feces.RESULTS:
Twenty seven met the inclusion criteria. In 26 studies, the presence or absence of SARS-CoV-2 ribonucleic acid in the feces of COVID-19 patients had been reported. Out of the 671 patients, 312 (46.5%) had a positive stool sample for viral nucleic acid. Of these patients, 63.9% remained positive for viral nucleic acid in the feces after pharyngeal swabs became negative; Three studies also evaluated the viral ribonucleic acid in the gastrointestinal tissues and the presence of SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid was found in samples of 3 patients out of 8 examined (37.5%). The presence of the live virus in stool samples was confirmed in two studies but no in in a recent study from Germany. These results suggested that SARS-CoV-2 could infect gastrointestinal epithelial cells and it may be transmitted through the digestive tract.CONCLUSION:
In order to control the pandemic, every effort should be made to understand all the possible routes of transmission of the infections, even the less important ones.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Gastrointestinal Tract
/
Feces
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Int J Colorectal Dis
Journal subject:
Gastroenterology
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S00384-020-03785-7
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