Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Indonesia, Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, Jakarta, Indonesia
Syam, A.F., Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Indonesia, Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, Jakarta, Indonesia
Up to this point, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is still ongoing. Some studies with a large number of cases have reported its clinical manifestations, concluding that the disease is a great imitator. Patients may present with symptoms other than the main symptoms of respiratory tract infections, such as diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea, or vomiting, which may sometimes cause a delayed treatment in managing COVID-19 patients. Reports of various hospitals have also demonstrated gastrointestinal complaints as a clinical manifestation in those patients. The patients may come with gastrointestinal symptoms as their early clinical manifestation, or the gastrointestinal symptoms may be found in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, which indeed can be explained since the SARS-CoV-2, an etiologic agent of COVID-19 infection, can obviously be found along the gastrointestinal tract. Hence, the virus can be found in fecal and anal, and therefore, rectal swabs can be used as a diagnostic tool for COVID-19 infection. ? 2021 Author.