Coronavirus can infect intestine as well as lungs, says study
- Dutch scientists found that lab-grown intestinal cells became infected with both the Sars and Covid-19 viruses, which attached themselves to a receptor enzyme
- Conclusions are supported by research from China that found patients suffering from diarrhoea had more severe symptoms
Covid-19 can infect the intestine as well as the respiratory system, according to new research.
Scientists have previously found genetic material from the virus that causes the disease, or the virus itself, in patients’ stools– raising concerns that it could be transmitted through faecal matter.
China’s health authority also recognised diarrhoea as a symptom of the disease in its official treatment guidelines.
However, scientists were unsure whether the intestine could become infected and the coronavirus – officially known as Sars-CoV-2 – multiply there, but recent studies by Dutch and Chinese researchers support this theory.
The Dutch study, published in Science magazine on May 1, shows that the new virus can infect the absorptive cells – known as entrocytes – that line the intestine’s inner surface in the same way that severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) does.