COVID-19: Gastrointestinal Manifestations and Potential Fecal-Oral Transmission.

The recent outbreak of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) has caused tremendous damage worldwide and has dramatically changed people's daily lives. This virus is sometimes known to cause fatal severe pneumonia, but in addition to this, it has also been found to cause gastrointestinal symptoms. Some of these gastrointestinal symptoms appear to include upper gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and anorexia, as well as lower gastrointestinal symptoms such as loose stool and diarrhea. The paper warns that 2019-nCoV infection has not only respiratory symptoms but also gastrointestinal symptoms, and warns that the route of infection can be not only the respiratory tract but also the gastrointestinal tract, especially fecal-oral infections. ACE2, known as a viral entry receptor, is found not only in the respiratory tract but also in the esophageal stratified squamous epithelium, the intestinal absorptive epithelium, and even cholangiocytes. Not only gastrointestinal findings but also elevated aminotransferase, hypoproteinemia and prothrombin time prolongation are recognized, so it is certain that this is an infectious disease to be challenged in gastroenterology.
 

This is an important finding but it remains to be seen if coronavirus can be transmitted faeco-orally.