Gastrointestinal manifestations in COVID-19

Posted by Daisy Lear on

The area of covid-19 gastrointestinal disturbances have not been adequately published.  To read the details, I’ve included four research articles from NIH at the end of this article.

 

I am posting this information because there are varied symptoms and residual effects of the virus. Although I’ve seen “flare-ups” and residual effects of other viruses such as from the West Nile virus, malaria and herpes, both the symptoms and the residual effects of covid19 appear to be much more varied.  And similar to HIV and AIDS, the virus can cause other (seemingly) unrelated health concerns.

Being a health care provider, I’ve also heard symptoms and residual effects from clients, friends and family members’ (and their close friends and family).  Some of the residual effects are still affecting people to this day.  I have found that Chinese herbal medicine, acupuncture, dietary adjustments and supplements have helped clear up some of these residual effects, and I’ve also referred patients to health care facilities for bloodwork, etc.  The following is a list of the health concerns that I have noticed in patients, and some that I’ve personally experienced, months after the acute illness was over, not during :

 
  • high white blood cell count for extended period of time
  • high estrogen – estrogen increases when white blood cells increase to fight pathogens and these increases also make people feel tired during illness
  • normal-slightly high red blood cell count for more than one year
  • vision problems such as blurry vision
  • HA and eye pain
  • tinnitus (almost constant ear ringing)
  • muscle weakness and fatigue
  • sudden tiredness
  • sudden exhaustion
  • joint pain
  • achey, “run down”
  • diarrhea
  • nausea
  • vomit
  • dizziness
  • POTS : copied and pasted from hopkinmedicine.org website : 

What is POTS?

POTS is a form of dysautonomia — a disorder of the autonomic nervous system. This branch of the nervous system regulates functions we don’t consciously control, such as heart rate, blood pressure, sweating and body temperature. The key characteristics of POTS are the specific symptoms and the exaggerated increase in heart rate when standing.

What does POTS stand for?

  • Postural: related to the position of your body

  • Orthostatic: related to standing upright

  • Tachycardia: increased heart rate

  • Syndrome: a group of symptoms

 
 
Here are a few links to covid19 research related to gastrointestinal problems.  These are quite serious and the virus is detected much longer in stool than it is in the sinuses and respiratory system.
 

April 2020 : https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7172493/

 
 
 
 

Excerpts copied and pasted from March 2021 research :

Of 42 COVID-19 patients, 66.7% had SARS-CoV-2 RNA in their faeces but only 19% had GI symptoms. However, patients presenting with digestive symptoms are more likely to be faecal viral RNA positive than those with respiratory symptoms (73.3% vs 14.3%). Patients with digestive symptoms also take longer to clear the virus from their stools.Zhang et al.found a higher positivity rate of the virus in faeces compared with respiratory samples (83% vs 67%). The virus was present in the stools for a longer period compared with upper respiratory specimens (22 vs 14 d).Chen et al.found faecal shedding to occur for 6–10 d after pharyngeal swabs became negative and a similar pattern was seen among children.The presence of faecal viral RNA does not correlate with disease severity.The longer positivity of viral RNA in the stools of patients with digestive symptoms compared with those with only respiratory symptoms may be due to the high viral load in such patients.
 
The loss of gut mucosal integrity and dysfunction of intestinal flora are important complications in severe viral illnesses, including COVID-19. The use of probiotics has been suggested to improve GI symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 infection.Irrational use of broad-spectrum antibiotics should be avoided, as they cause the loss of commensal intestinal flora and alteration of gut mucosal integrity. COVID-19 treatment guidelines in China have included the use of probiotics and micro-ecological regulators for maintaining gut mucosal integrity and to minimise secondary bacterial infections.
 
The use of PPIs are a risk factor for rotavirus, influenza virus, norovirus and MERS viral infections.Individuals using PPIs once or twice daily had significantly higher odds of a positive COVID-19 test compared with those not taking it.A larger study done by Lee et al.in 14 163 current and 6242 past PPI users with COVID-19 found SARS-CoV-2 test positivity was not associated with current or past use of PPIs. However, current use of PPIs conferred a 79% higher risk of severe clinical outcomes following SARS-CoV-2 infection. In contrast, Taştemur and Atasevenhypothesised that PPI may be used for treatment and prophylaxis of COVID-19, owing to their anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, immunomodulatory and antifibrotic properties.