Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2 or COVID-19)

Sherafatmandi, S.; Yosefzadeh, M.; Shayesteh, B.; Kazemnia, K.

Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19) is a highly infectious viral syndrome currently threatening millions of people worldwide. It is widely recognized as a disease of the pulmonary system, presenting with fever, cough, and shortness of breath. However, a number of extra pulmonary manifestations have been described in the literature. SARS-CoV-2 is expressed in gastrointestinal (GI) epithelial cells suggesting that SARS-CoV-2 can infect and replicate in the GI tract. The most prevalent GI features of COVID-19 include abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. There is limited data regarding GI bleeding in patients with COVID-19. Method: This single-centered, retrospective case series was conducted at Razi hospital in Khuzestan province southwestern Iran one of the provinces with highest prevalence and death due to COVID-19 disease. We recorded cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection and concurrent GI bleeding who went through surgery from September 22, 2020 to November 21, 2020.500 patients where admitted into the this COVID-19 center of Ahvaz city in this time line. a reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test was performed and SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in the nasopharyngeal swab for each of 2 patients.