- Some patients with the new coronavirus first detected in Wuhan, China, experience nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea.
- Though the virus primarily causes fever or difficulty breathing, these rarer symptoms sometimes appear first.
- In one case, a coronavirus patient was placed in the wrong ward because they only showed abdominal symptoms. They spread the virus to 14 other people there.
- Like SARS, the new coronavirus could spread through poop.
- For the latest case total, death toll, and travel information, see Business Insider's live updates here.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
The deadly new coronavirus that has spread from the city of Wuhan, China is giving some patients nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
The coronavirus is part of a family of respiratory illnesses that includes the common cold, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). Patients often show pneumonia-like symptoms, especially fever, cough, and difficulty breathing.
But gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea and diarrhea could be early clues of coronavirus infection, according to a growing body of preliminary research.
Missing those rarer symptoms could have deadly consequences, since they are sometimes the only early indicators that a person is infected. A peer-reviewed study published Friday in the Journal of the American Medical Association identified 14 coronavirus patients who had diarrhea and nausea before they showed any signs of fever or respiratory symptoms. That was 10% of the study's 138-person sample size.
One of those patients was placed in a surgical ward because they only showed abdominal symptoms, so doctors didn't suspect the new coronavirus. That patient then transmitted the virus to at least 10 healthcare workers and four other patients in the ward. (If you think you might have the coronavirus, call your doctor before leaving the house.)
Researchers found the virus in poop
The first US patient with the new coronavirus had diarrhea and reported abdominal discomfort the day after he arrived at the hospital, according to a report published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers later detected the coronavirus' RNA in his poop.
Another study, shared in the pre-publication repository biorXiv, detected an enzyme signature of the virus in cells from the small intestine and colon.
Patients in China and Vietnam have also had diarrhea, vomited, or reported nausea.
These symptoms could be relatively rare, though: A study published in the pre-print repository medRxiv (which has not been peer-reviewed) looked at data from 1,099 patients. Less than 4% of those people experienced diarrhea and about 5% experienced vomiting.
These uncommon symptoms aren't emphasized in official guidelines from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). But the agency's guidance for healthcare professionals does make a brief mention of diarrhea as an uncommonly reported symptom, along with "a general feeling of being unwell."
Watching for nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea could help contain the outbreak
This is not the first time scientists have found a coronavirus in patients' poop. Research indicated that SARS traveled through a Hong Kong apartment's sewage system to infect some residents after one sick person had diarrhea.
Dr. Susan Kline, a spokesperson for the Infectious Diseases Society of America, told MedPage Today that gastrointestinal symptoms were "not unusual" in SARS patients during the virus's deadly 2003 outbreak.
The Wuhan coronavirus has killed more than 1,000 people - a higher death toll in six weeks than SARS had in eight months.
Kline said that many illnesses cause nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting, even if those aren't the primary symptoms. Looking for them can be crucial in the early stages of a new outbreak, as it was with SARS and Ebola.
"It was not recognized early on that [Ebola] patients had prominent diarrhea. Later, as [there were] reports of large numbers of patients, it became more obvious that it could be a predominant part of the illness," Kline said.
Kline added that it's important not to assume that all patients will have gastrointestinal problems, though. Still, including those symptoms in official guidelines could help catch more coronavirus cases early on.
"That would be helpful for clinicians to have, so they could at least consider that a patient with novel coronavirus might have vomiting or diarrhea," she said.
Have you been personally impacted by the coronavirus epidemic? Is your city or community on the front lines of this disease? Have you or someone you know been tested or diagnosed? We want to hear your story. Please email science+coronavirus@businessinsider.com
- Read more:
- Workers at 6 US hospitals reveal how they respond to potential coronavirus cases - including face shields and negative-pressure isolation chambers
- The Wuhan coronavirus has killed more people in 6 weeks than SARS did in 8 months. Here's how the 2 outbreaks compare.
- 10 Wuhan professors signed an open letter demanding free speech protections after a doctor who was punished for warning others about coronavirus died from it
- People are racing to buy face masks amid the coronavirus outbreak, but they probably won't protect you from illness
- The outbreaks of both the Wuhan coronavirus and SARS likely started in Chinese wet markets. Photos show what the markets look like.
Featured Digital Health Articles:
- Telehealth Industry: Benefits, Services & Examples
- Value-Based Care Model: Pay-for-Performance Healthcare
- Senior Care & Assisted Living Market Trends
- Smart Medical Devices: Wearable Tech in Healthcare
- AI in Healthcare
- Remote Patient Monitoring Industry: Devices & Market Trends