Case report of familial COVID-19 cluster associated with High prevalence of anosmia, ageusia, and gastrointestinal symptoms

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, w...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bethany E. Ho, Andrea P. Ho, Michaela A. Ho, Elizabeth C. Ho
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2020-01-01
Series:IDCases
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214250920302833
Description
Summary: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.
ISSN:2214-2509