Gastrointestinal symptoms as Covid-19 onset in hospitalized Italian patients

Objective To assess the prevalence of gastrointestinal symptoms and their correlation with need of non-invasive ventilatory support, intensive care unit admission and death in hospitalized SARS-CoV-2 patients. Design Since February 21th 2020, all individuals referred to our emergency department for suspected SARS-CoV-2 underwent a standardized assessment of body temperature and pulse oximetry, hematological screening, chest X-ray and/or computed tomography (CT), and SARS-CoV-2 assay on nasopharyngeal swab. Medical history and GI symptoms including nausea, vomit, diarrhea, and abdominal pain were recorded. Results GI symptoms were the main presentation in 42 (10.2%) of 411 patients, with a mean onset 4.9 +/-... days before admission. In 5 (1.2%) patients GI symptoms have not been associated with respiratory symptoms or fever. We found an inverse trend for ICU admission and death as compared with patients without GI symptoms. Conclusions GI symptoms can be an early and not negligible feature of Covid-19, and might be correlated with a more benign disease course.