Paediatric COVID-19 and the GUT

Although children with novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) typically present with fever and respiratory symptoms, some children have reported gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms including vomiting and diarrhoea during the course of the disease. The continuous positive detection of the viral RNA from faeces in children even after nasopharyngeal swabs turned negative suggests that the GI tract may shed virus and a tentative faecal–oral transmission. The presence of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptor and transmembrane serine protease 2, which are the key proteins of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) cell entry process, in the GI tract can explain the digestive symptoms in COVID-19. COVID-19 has implications for the management of children with chronic luminal diseases. There is increasing concern regarding the risk that children with inflammatory bowel disease being infected with SARS-CoV-2.