Background: Patients with COVID-19 most commonly report respiratory symptoms, with a minority reporting gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms in currently available reports. Additionally, little is known about the symptoms of anosmia/hyposmia, ageusia, and dysgeusia anecdotally seen in COVID-19 patients, which may potentially be considered both GI and sensory/neurological manifestations of infection. We hope to clarify the prevalence of these symptoms and patterns of transmission within a family cluster.
Case presentation: We interviewed 7 patients via oral inquiries and a questionnaire, collecting data on subject symptoms and their durations. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to confirm 2 of these cases. We report a familial cluster of 5 presumed and 2 confirmed COVID-19 cases, all of whom reported one or more GI symptoms and 5 of whom reported sensory symptoms of anosmia/hyposmia, ageusia/hypogeusia, and/or dysgeusia.
Conclusions: This frequency of GI symptoms is high relative to currently available epidemiological reports, which also infrequently report on sensory symptoms. COVID-19 exhibits wide variation in duration, severity, and progression of symptoms, even within a familial cluster.
Keywords: Ageusia; Anosmia; COVID-19; COVID-19, coronavirus disease of 2019; Case report; Family cluster; GI, gastrointestinal; RT-PCR, reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction; SARS-CoV-2; SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.
© 2020 The Authors.