The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) not only affects the respiratory but also the gastrointestinal, musculoskeletal, etc systems during the acute phase. The occurrence of gastrointestinal symptoms, specifically diarrhea, at onset is associated with hospitalization and represents an overall risk factor for poor hospitalization outcomes and increased severity.

Post-COVID gastrointestinal symptoms may persist after the acute phase, with most studies reporting its prevalence ranging from 10% to 25%. 

The LONG-COVID-EXP-CM, a multicenter cohort study, included patients with a diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 who were selected randomly and were scheduled for a telephone interview conducted by trained healthcare professionals at two follow-up periods separated by a 5-month period. Their clinical data were collected and they were systematically questioned about gastrointestinal post-COVID symptoms, particularly diarrhea. The acquired data were subjected to analysis utilizing the exponential curves model.

A total of 2000 individuals were selected and invited to participate, among which 1593 (age: 61.5, SD: 16 years, 46.5% women) were included at hospital admission (T0), and at 8.4 (range 6–10, T1) and 13.2 (range 11–15, T2) months after discharge. The diarrheal prevalence showed to decrease from 10.8% at hospital admission (T0) to 2.25% at T1, to 1% at T2. The exponential recovery curve also suggested that gastrointestinal symptoms can persist until three or more years after hospitalization. 

Thus, identifying the risk factors associated with the development of gastrointestinal symptoms will aid in the better management of long-haulers.

This came as the pioneer study that analyzed the curve of recovery of post-COVID gastrointestinal symptoms in previously hospitalized COVID-19 survivors. 

Fernández-de-las-Peñas C, Martín-Guerrero JD, Navarro-Pardo E,et al. Exploring the recovery curve for gastrointestinal symptoms from the acute COVID-19 phase to long-term post-COVID: The LONG-COVID-EXP-CM Multicenter Study. J Med Virol. 2022;94:2925–2927.