Is Diarrhoea a Covid symptom?
You may be familiar with coronavirus disease 19 or COVID-19, which causes respiratory symptoms. However, you might not know that it can also cause digestive symptoms. As the first sign of COVID-19, approximately 9 % of those may experience diarrhoea. The coronavirus responsible for COVID-19, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (“SARS-CoV-2”), can cause inflammation and loose, watery stool.
Continue reading to learn more about COVID-19, diarrhoea, and how to treat upset stomachs if they affect you.
Parameters of diarrhoea in COVID-19
You may experience diarrhoea if you have COVID-19. Most people with COVID-19 and diarrhoea first experience symptoms like a fever and a cough. People who develop COVID-19 and have symptoms such as diarrhoea are more likely to have severe than those who don’t.
Texture
A staggering 64% of those who have suffered from COVID-19 or other digestive symptoms experienced watery stool. Some people report soft or mushy stool. This is because your stool isn’t moving at the expected rate to become a soldier.
A watery stool could indicate that your body is losing a lot of water through your stool. This could lead to dehydration. It is important to keep hydrated when you experience diarrhoea.
Yellow colour
Case reports of COVID-19-related diarrhoea included descriptions of yellow diarrhoea. Yellow diarrhoea can be caused by viruses because your stool moves too fast through your intestine.
Your intestine can absorb fats if your stool moves at a normal speed. If your stool moves too fast, the fats will remain. Your stool will turn yellow due to the presence of fat.
Green colour
Green stool can be caused by COVID-19 diarrhoea. This is because it causes yellow stool (lack fat breakdown). The bile in your stool can make diarrhoea appear green if fats aren’t properly broken down. Bile is a substance that your liver and gallbladder release to digest fats.
Management of diarrhoea with COVID-19
It may sound strange, but you might want to avoid taking antidiarrhea medication too soon. Medications such as loperamide and diphenoxylate-atropine work by causing digested food to move more slowly through your intestines. This prevents cramping or diarrhoea.
These medications can slow down the death of SARS-CoV-2. This could mean that you are keeping the virus in your body longer and making yourself sicker.
COVID-19 is still a relatively new virus in terms of research so there aren’t any specific recommendations on how to treat diarrhoea caused by this virus. The focus now is on other common treatments of diarrhoea.
These include:
- To stay hydrated, increase fluid intake by:
- Soup
- Broth
- Juice
- low-carbohydrate sports drinks
- Eat bland foods like toast, saltine crackers, and applesauce.
- Get plenty of rest
- Anti-nausea medication such as dimenhydrinate, (Dramamine), or the prescription drug Ondansetron(Zofran) is recommended.
You may need intravenous fluids (IV) if you are experiencing severe dehydration.
SARS-CoV-2 can also be transmitted through faecal-oral routes. It’s not pleasant to think about but if you don’t practice good hygiene, SARS-CoV-2 could be transmitted to others via your stool.
These steps will help maintain good hygiene and prevent transmission
- After each use, cover the toilet and flush it.
- Do not throw away any toilet paper.
- Regularly clean your toilet, since it’s a high traffic area.