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Objective: To evaluate the presence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in the tear and conjunctival secretions of laboratory-confirmed coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) patients. Methods: A total of 152 consecutive COVID-19 patients, confirmed by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test in nasopharyngeal swabs, were included. The conjunctival swabs were taken from both eyes by the same ophthalmologist in the first 24-36 hours after positive test results for COVID-19 in the nasopharyngeal swabs were detected. Results: Of the 152 patients, 96 (63.15%) were male and 56 (36.85%) were female. The mean age was 39.36±13.15 years. Sixteen (10.5%) patients had symptoms or findings such as tearing, stinging, redness, pain, and burning in their eyes. RT-PCR tests for SARS-CoV-2 RNA in conjunctival swabs were positive in 13 (8.55%) of 152 COVID-19 patients. Conclusion: This study showed that SARS-CoV-2 may be found in the conjunctival swabs of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients, and ocular secretions may be a possible route for virus transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a worldwide pandemic with a huge burden of illness, high economic costs, and mortality rates. This study sought to compare clinical signs and symptoms among adult COVID-19 patients admitted to triage outpatient clinics. Methods: In this observational retrospective study, clinical symptoms, biochemical parameters, and chest computed tomography (CT) of 1745 suspected patients admitted to COVID-19 triage outpatient clinic between 01 April 2020-01 September 2020 were analyzed. Results: A total of 650 (37.2%) of 1745 patients who were admitted to triage outpatient clinic were diagnosed as COVID-19 by PCR confirmation. Of the participants, 88.1% had at least one symptom, 11.9% were asymptomatic. Almost half of the patients (50.1%) had a history of exposure including contact with COVİD-19 confirmed cases. COVID-19 (+) patients were more diabetic and hypertensive than negative cases. In patients who underwent chest CT imaging, 40.6% (310) had pneumonic infiltrations compatible with COVID-19 pneumonia. Hemoglobin, leukocyte, neutrophil, lymphocyte, and platelet counts were lower, but CRP levels were higher in patients with COVID-19. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that older age (OR=1.020; p=0.018), contact with confirmed COVID-19 patient (OR=1.907, p=0.009), fever (OR=1,588, p=0,001), fatigue (OR=2.075, p=0.009), cough (OR= 2.301, p<0.001) were significantly associated with increased odds of PCR (+) status. Conclusions: Predictive factors associated with PCR (+) test results were older age, history of contact with confirmed COVID-19 patient, high fever, fatigue, cough in our study. Some symptoms could have a significant relationship with PCR positivity, which requires a more careful approach during the first admission to healthcare facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The severe acute respiratory syndrome novel corona virus-2 (SARS-nCoV-2) which is an enveloped RNA virus was defined as the cause of Corona Virus Disease-2019 (COVID-19). Gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms can also be observed in COVID-19 patients. This study was performed to evaluate the association between GI symptoms and laboratory results. Methods: This retrospective study was carried out in the University of Health Sciences Turkey, Istanbul Haseki Health Training and Research Hospital between 11th March and 1st June 2020. This study consisted of a total of 159 patients with COVID-19. COVID-19 infection was defined via a positive nasal and pharyngeal swab test. All symptoms of patients were recorded. Study patients were divided into 2 groups according to the presence of GI symptoms or not. Results: There were 41 patients in the group with GI and 118 were in the group without GI symptoms. Nausea and/or vomiting were observed in 29, diarrhea in 20 and abdominal pain in 10 patients. Percentages of anosmia (loss of smell sense) and ageusia (loss of taste sense) increased in patients with GI symptoms than the other group (p=0.005 and <0.0001). The mean serum aspartate amino transferase (AST) level elevated in COVID-19 patients with GI symptoms (p=0.022). Conclusion: Anosmia and ageusia increased significantly in COVID-19 patients with GI. Serum C-reactive protein and AST levels statistically increased in COVID-19 patients with GI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In patients with coronavirus disease 2019, the gastrointestinal symptoms have been reported increasingly in addition to the respiratory system symptoms. The studies show that the prevalence of gastrointestinal system symptoms and how the gastrointestinal system contributes to the severity and prognosis of the disease is still not clear. This study aims to find the prevalence of gastrointestinal symptoms and the correlation between the gastrointestinal symptoms and the clinical results in hospitalized patients diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019., Methods: This study retrospectively analyzes patients diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 and hospitalized in the pandemic unit between March 2020 and August 2020 and compares their demographic and clinical characteristics, laboratory and radiologic findings, coronavirus disease 2019 treatments received, the clinical course of the disease, and the gastrointestinal symptoms., Results: In our study, we included 322 patients diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 and hospitalized; 39 patients (12.1%) were admitted to the hospital with at least one gastrointestinal symptom (nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and the loss of taste). Nausea and vomiting are the most common gastrointestinal symptoms with a prevalence of 7.1%, followed by diarrhea with 2.8%, the loss of taste with 2.2%, and abdominal pain with 1.5%. The mean age and D-dimer levels of the patients showing gastrointestinal symptoms were lower than those who did not have any gastrointestinal symptoms. We did not find a significant correlation between the presence of the gastrointestinal symptoms and the severity of the disease, treatment received, risk of acute respiratory distress syndrome and septic shock, admission to the intensive care unit, the need for mechanical ventilation, the mortality rate or the length of hospitalization in the medical floor or the intensive care unit., Conclusion: In this study, we observed that 12.1% of coronavirus disease 2019 patients apply to the hospital due to gastrointestinal symptoms. Furthermore, the gastrointestinal symptoms do not seem to affect the severity and the course of the disease, it is important to identify coronavirus disease 2019 patients showing unusual symptoms such as the gastrointestinal symptoms at an early stage to protect healthcare professionals from infection risk.