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

The outbreak of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pneumonia initially developed in one of the largest cities, Wuhan, Hubei province of China, in early December 2019 and has been declared the sixth public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization, and subsequently named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). As of February 20, 2020, a total of>75,000 cumulative confirmed cases and 2130 deaths have been documented globally in 26 countries across 5 continents. Current studies reveal that respiratory symptoms of COVID-19 such as fever, dry cough, and even dyspnea represent the most common manifestations at presentation similar to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003 and Middle East respiratory syndrome in 2012, which is firmly indicative of droplet transmission and contact transmission.
Source: Gastroenterology - Category: Gastroenterology Authors: Tags: Commentary Source Type: research