Acute gastroenteritis with a new coronavirus infection in Novosibirsk residents

The aim of the study was to determine the frequency and clinical and laboratory features of acute gastroenteritis (OGE) in adult residents of Novosibirsk hospitalized with a new coronavirus infection (COVID-19) in 2020.

Materials and methods. We examined 3581 patients aged 18 to 96 years with a diagnosis of “New coronavirus infection”, confirmed by the detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the mucus from the oropharynx by PCR, hospitalized in the State Medical Institution NSO GICB No. 1 in 2020. Along with the generally accepted diagnostic methods, feces were examined by PCR in 50 patients with gastrointestinal syndrome to detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA using a set of original specific primers.

Results. Of the 3,581 hospitalized adult patients with COVID-19, 74% of cases were diagnosed with bilateral polysegmental pneumonia, and 26% of cases were diagnosed with acute respiratory infection. Manifestations of OGE were observed in 6.8% (n=243) of patients. In the group of 50 COVID-19 patients, in whom the disease began with symptoms of OGE, it came to the fore in the clinical picture of the disease in 20% of cases, and SARS-Co- V2 RNA in the feces was detected in 62% of patients.

Conclusion The established frequency of OGE in COVID-19 in adults shows the need to develop and implement in clinical practice test systems (PCR of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in feces) for the diagnosis of the intestinal form of a new coronavirus infection.

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