Epidemiol Infect. 2022 Jul 8;150:e136. doi: 10.1017/S0950268822001200.

Erika Austhof ¹, Melanie L Bell ¹, Mark S Riddle ², Collin Catalfamo ¹, Caitlyn McFadden ¹, Kerry Cooper ³, Elaine Scallan Walter ⁴, Elizabeth Jacobs ^1 5, Kristen Pogreba-Brown ¹

Author information

¹Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA.

²Department of Internal Medicine, Reno School of Medicine, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA.

³School of Animal and Comparative Biomedical Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA.

⁴Department of Epidemiology, Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, USA.

⁵University of Arizona Cancer Center, Tucson, Arizona, USA.

Abstract

In this study, we aimed to examine the association between gastrointestinal (GI) symptom presence during severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and the prevalence of GI symptoms and the development of post-infectious irritable bowel syndrome (PI-IBS). We used data from a prospective cohort and logistic regression to examine the association between GI symptom status during confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection and prevalence of persistent GI symptoms at ≥45 days. We also report the incidence of PI-IBS following SARS-CoV-2 infection. Of the 1475 participants in this study, 33.8% (n = 499) had GI symptoms during acute infection. Cases with acute GI symptoms had an odds of persisting GI symptoms 4 times higher than cases without acute GI symptoms (odds ratio (OR) 4.29, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.45-7.53); symptoms lasted on average 8 months following infection. Of those with persisting GI symptoms, 67% sought care for their symptoms and incident PI-IBS occurred in 3.0% (n = 15) of participants. Those with acute GI symptoms after SARS-CoV-2 infection are likely to have similar persistent symptoms 45 days and greater. These data indicate that attention to a potential increase in related healthcare needs is warranted.