A perspective Study on oral-fecal transmission of COVID-19, its
Prevention and Management
Abstract
The novel coronavirus outbreak arose in Wuhan, China in Dec, 2019. It is
declared the 6th public health emergency by the WHO and named as
COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 is non-segmented positive sense ssRNA virus,
belongs to the Coronaviridae under the Nidovirales and spread largely in
human being and other mammals. Person to person, airborne and surface
transmission is common, the virus get entered to host through nose,
mouth, eyes, food, water and feces. An infected patients can transmit
the virus to 2.2 healthy individuals. A patient in the US showed
gastrointestinal symptoms vomiting, nausea and pass loose stools. Later
the patient declared positive for SARS-CoV-2 on the basis of viral
detection in stools and respiratory samples. The gastrointestinal
symptoms like diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, abdominal discomfort and
detection of SARS-CoV-2 in stools of infected and recovered patients
indicates potential oral-fecal transmission route, it could be potential
risk for the spread of COVID-19. The flatus is gas produced by
aerophagia or bacterial fermentation in intestine and expelled out
through esophagus or anus. It consists of Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen,
Carbon dioxide and Methane, their percentage composition is 99%.
Previous study showed that bacteria can transmit through bare-bottom
farting. The gastrointestinal manifestation and possible oral-fecal
transmission, the flatulence could be the risk of transmission for
COVID-19. Personal hygiene must be adapted to prevent the spread of
disease.