If you have had diarrhea for a few days, it could be Covid-19. Yes, you might have missed this, but this intestinal disturbance is also one of the symptoms of coronavirus. And the new JN.1 variant, now in the majority, is a reminder of this.
“We observed from the first variations that the coronavirus causes diarrhea,” recalls Antoine Flaholt, epidemiologist and professor at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Geneva. This feature seems to be more common with newer variants but it is not new. »
Risk of dehydration
Do not panic: “This will not lead to more serious forms of Kovid-19”, however, assures the epidemiologist. We know this because the number of hospitalizations with JN.1 is very low. According to the doctor, a new type that is also “in a period of epidemic decline”.
So less risks…except for certain segments of the population. Diarrhea can cause dehydration in infants, the elderly or the very fragile, but “discomfort and consequences that can go as far as kidney failure,” according to Benjamin Davido, an infectious disease doctor and medical director responsible for Covid-19 at Raymond Poincaré, in Garches. Hospital.
Risk of decomposition
Diarrhea can also destabilize their health. “Sometimes, elderly people do not die from the Covid-19 infection or respiratory failure, but from the disintegration of their pre-existing illness due to the imbalance of uncertain health conditions,” explains Antoine Flaholt. Medicines taken for chronic illnesses, for example, may be difficult to absorb in cases of diarrhea.
“In this type of case, we often see elderly people who are bedridden, indigestion, unwell and admitted to the hospital without signs of respiratory failure,” adds Benjamin Davido. On the contrary, they may even initiate symptoms of the disease before respiratory failure. »
Risk of delayed diagnosis… and hospital overcrowding
According to him, emergency doctors and infectious disease doctors are fully aware of these cases which can easily be confused with Legionella infection or gastroenteritis. But this may not be the case for other professionals. “With all the respect I have for my colleagues, if we come across an elderly patient who, in a medical desert, calls his doctor at his house and says he has diarrhoea, the doctor will not think about Covid. 19, an infectious disease specialist estimates. Especially with epidemics of gastroenteritis in winter. »
However, diagnosis is important. If it is not applied on time, it can prevent you from taking the right medicine. “Now we have an effective treatment,” emphasizes the doctor. The earlier we diagnose and start treatment, the lower the risk of hospitalization. » Because even in the absence of respiratory failure, almost exclusively elderly people with gastroenterological forms of Covid-19 can end up in the emergency room. And come to “overcrowding” in hospitals. In times of triple pandemic, flu, covid and bronchiolitis, it is better to try to avoid it.
