Diarrhea: An underestimated symptom in Coronavirus disease 2019

Klopfenstein, Timothée; Kadiane-Oussou, N’dri Juliette; Royer, Pierre-Yves; Toko, Lynda; Gendrin, Vincent; Zayet, Souheil

In a retrospective study in the Nord Franche-Comté hospital conducted between March 1st and March 17th 2020, and compared to the review of Li et al., diarrhea was a main symptom in patients with COVID-19. Out of the 114 patients, 55 (48%) had diarrhea; it was the fifth most common symptom. In the group of patients with diarrhea, the median age was 56 years (± 18) and 32 (58%) were female. Only 2 patients (3.6%) had a past history of inflammatory bowel disease. Fifty-six percent of patients (n = 30/54) were hospitalised. Diarrhea appeared 4.5 days (± 1.8) after the onset of the first other symptoms in COVID-19. Of the 55 patients with diarrhea, 29 (52.7%) had at least one simultaneous gastrointestinal (GI) symptom other than diarrhea. Twenty-five patients (45.5%) had nausea, 19 patients (34.5%) had abdominal pain and 9 (16.3%) had vomiting. Myalgia, sore throat, sneezing and the other GI symptoms were statistically more frequent in the group with diarrhea than in the group without diarrhea (P < 0.05).