COVID-19 Can Infect Kidneys, Intestines Along With Lungs, Confirms Studies

The novel coronavirus can infect several organs throughout the body other than the respiratory system, including the brain, throat, heart, liver, kidneys, and the intestines, according to a recent study. Two different studies have demonstrated that the coronavirus can infect various organs in the body and explains the wide range of symptoms caused by COVID-19.

The findings of these studies might explain some of the puzzling symptoms seen in some COVID-19 patients including the blood clots, stroke, headaches, and kidney failure.

Even though COVID-19 is classified as a respiratory illness that spreads via respiratory droplets, it can also cause diarrhea and several other gastrointestinal symptoms. Scientists have found the presence of the coronavirus in stool samples collected from COVID-19 patients and warn that it can be transmitted via the fecal-oral route.

Study-1

The experts at the University of Hong Kong wanted to determine if the virus can flourish in a person’s intestines. They grew lab dish versions of organs a.k.a. intestinal organoids from both bats as well as human beings. The findings revealed that the virus not only lived in these organoids but also seemed to be replicating inside them.

“The human intestinal tract might be a transmission route of SARS-CoV-2. A 68-year-old female patient presented with fever, sore throat, and productive cough and developed diarrhea after admission to Princess Margaret Hospital. We isolated infectious virus from her stool specimen," said the researchers in their paper published in Nature Medicine.

"Here we demonstrate active replication of SARS-CoV-2 in human intestinal organoids and isolation of infectious virus from the stool specimen of a patient with diarrheal COVID-19," the researchers added.

Study-2

The researchers at University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in Germany conducted autopsies on 27 patients who died from the coronavirus infection. They isolated the virus in several organs of the deceased COVID-19 patients.

The findings highlighted the fact that the coronavirus was found enormously in the kidneys. This might explain the high rate of kidney injury reported in COVID-19 patients.

The researchers also opined that the ability of the novel coronavirus to attack different organs might aggravate pre-existing ailments. This is why individuals with diabetes, heart diseases, and kidney conditions are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19.