Diarrhea, as well as the other digestive symptoms are found to be the major complaints of almost half of the COVID-19 patients. This was reported by a group of Chinese researchers. In connection to this, most patients with the virus experience respiratory symptoms.
However, these research findings from the first stages of the pandemic present that, digestive symptoms are prevalent in many COVID-19 patients. The scholars from Wuhan Medical Treatment Expert Group for COVOD-19 said, there is a need for clinicians to remember that digestive symptoms like diarrhea, is possibly a "presenting feature" of this infectious disease and that, the suspicion's index may need to be addressed ahead in these conditions, instead of waiting for specific respiratory symptoms to occur.
In relation to the study, the researchers carefully evaluated data from 2014 patients of COVID-19 whose average age is almost 55 years old and were admitted to three of the hospitals in Hubei form January 18 to February 28 this year. Additionally, the average time from the onset of the symptom to confinement at the hospital was 8.1 days.
Nevertheless, the result showed that COVID-19 patients who had digestive symptoms spent a long time for hospital admission from the onset of the symptom, compared to those who did not experience the digestive system. Specifically, patients with digestive symptoms stayed at the hospital for nine days while those who did not have the symptoms stayed for just 7.3 days.
Research Finding
The said study suggested that patients who experienced digestive symptoms sought care much later as they did not suspect themselves having COVID-19.
They didn't suspect so due to the absence of respiratory symptoms like shortness of breath, cough or fever.
Meanwhile, patients with digestive symptoms experienced various conditions such as loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain.
Specifically, seven of the patients the researchers studied suffered from digestive symptoms but they did not feel any of the respiratory symptoms.
As the disease's severity increased, the scholars discovered, the digestive symptoms turned more serious.
Patients who do not have the digestive symptoms were quite more likely to be treated and released from confinement than those who experienced them.
The study found 60 percent of the patient had digestive symptoms against the 34 percent who did not did not experience the said symptoms.
With the said percentage, if the doctors monitored just for the respiratory symptoms to detect and confirm COVID-19, there is a possibility for them to miss cases that were originally present in the other symptoms.
More so, the illness may not be detected until after the respiratory symptoms occur, said the researchers.
Also in the study, patients of COVID-19 who had digestive symptoms experienced a higher risk of fatality and worse clinical result than those who do not have the symptoms, putting emphasis on the essentiality of including symptoms such as diarrhea for one, to diagnose COVID-19 earlier in the course of the illness before the symptoms of the respiratory condition develop.
As of this writing, the COVID-19 pandemic has already infected over 350,000 and killed more than 15,000 people globally.
