Frontiers in Medicine (Mar 2022)

Prolonged Shedding of SARS-CoV-2 in Feces of COVID-19 Positive Patients: Trends in Genomic Variation in First and Second Wave

  • Mallika Lavania,
  • Madhuri S. Joshi,
  • Sujata S. Ranshing,
  • Varsha A. Potdar,
  • Manohar Shinde,
  • Nutan Chavan,
  • Santosh M. Jadhav,
  • Prasad Sarkale,
  • Sreelekshmy Mohandas,
  • Pradeep M. Sawant,
  • Sanjaykumar Tikute,
  • Vikram Padbidri,
  • Sampada Patwardhan,
  • Rohan Kate

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2022.835168
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9

Abstract

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The main route of the transmission of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are through respiratory pathways and close contact of human-to-human. While information about other modes of transmission is comparatively less, some published literature supporting the likelihood of a fecal-oral mode of transmission has been accumulating. The diagnosis of SARS-COV-2 infected cases is based on the real-time reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR). The fecal excretion of SARS-COV-2 has been reported frequently, however, the role of fecal viral load with the severity of disease is not yet clear. Our study focused on the investigation of SARS-CoV-2 shedding in the fecal samples of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). A total of 280 RT-PCR-positive patients were enrolled, among them 15.4% had gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms. It was shown that 62% of the patients were positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA in fecal specimens. This positivity was not related to the presence of GI symptoms and the severity of disease. The next generation sequencing [NGS] of SARS-CoV-2 from fecal samples of patients was performed to analyze mutational variations. Findings from this study not only emphasized the potential presence of SARS-CoV-2 in feces, but also its continuing mutational changes and its possible role in fecal-oral transmission.

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