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Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care
. 2022 Feb 23.
doi: 10.1097/MCO.0000000000000825. Online ahead of print.
Gastrointestinal coronavirus disease 2019 manifestations in childhood
Naire Sansotta 1 , Lorenzo Norsa, Lorenzo D'Antiga
Affiliations
- PMID: 35199658
- DOI: 10.1097/MCO.0000000000000825
Abstract
Purpose of the review: The pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has emerged and caused a massive global health crisis. The aim of this review is first, to provide the latest evidence on what is known about the pathophysiology and the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and then to focus on the manifestations of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract in children with COVID-19. Lastly, we summarise the impact of COVID-19 on patients with preexisting GI diseases.
Recent findings: Even though the virus is mostly transmitted from human to human via respiratory droplets, ACE2 is known to be expressed throughout the GI tract, and SARS-CoV-2 ribonucleic acid has been isolated from patients' stools. GI symptoms including abdominal pain, diarrhoea and vomiting are frequently reported in paediatric patients. Interestingly, a small number of patients seem to exhibit solely GI symptoms. In addition, a multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) related to SARS-COV-2 described in children, has a high rate of GI involvement. Several etiopathogenetic mechanisms have been postulated to explain the GI involvement of COVID-19.
Summary: Clinicians should not underestimate or disregard these early or mild GI symptoms, because the patients may be infected and transmit the virus, or develop a more severe condition such as MIS-C.