Ad
Supported by
Gastrointestinal disorders are a common but overlooked sign of infection.
By Dani Blum
In January 2020, a man who would be the first Covid-19 patient in the United States arrived at an urgent care clinic.
Two of his symptoms, cough and fever, were among what would become known as telltale Covid symptoms, but the patient had also experienced nausea and vomiting for two days.
Many of us associate Covid with respiratory problems. But some other people who contract the virus never experience a sore throat, cough or body aches, said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco. Some other people end up feeling more like they have food poisoning than anything else.
That’s because the coronavirus is “like throwing a bomb at the body,” said Dr. Ken Cadwell, a professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania who studies how Covid affects the gut. “You’ll feel it in several other organs, just in the lungs. “
As Covid cases and variants called “FLiRT” fuel a new summer spread, here’s how to detect and treat lesser-known gastrointestinal symptoms.
In some other people, gastrointestinal symptoms occur in the first few days of infection, before manifesting as fever and cough. But many other people who only enjoy symptoms of the abdomen “never consider it Covid,” Dr. Chin-Hong said.
We are recovering the content of the article.
Please allow javascript in your browser settings.
Thank you for your patience as we determine access. If you’re in Reader mode, log out and log in to your Times account or subscribe to the full Times.
Thank you for your patience as we determine access.
Already subscribed? Log in.
Do you want all the Times? Subscribe.
Ad