Dados do Trabalho

Título

High incidence of SARS-CoV-2 in patients with gastrointestinal manifestations treated at a clinic in the region of Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil

Introdução

COVID-19, caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for the pandemic that began in 2020, with millions of fatal cases. The signs and symptoms of COVID-19 range from no symptoms to severe symptoms, the most common of which are related to SARS-CoV-2 infection and are related to the respiratory system, including cough, dyspnea, pulmonary infiltrates, in addition to general symptoms such as fever. , headache, myalgia, etc. With the spread and evolution of the virus, several variants with different clinical characteristics are circulating in Brazil. Some individuals began to present related symptoms and changes in the gastrointestinal tract, such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting.

Objetivo (s)

To verify the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 in individuals treated at a gastroenterology clinic in Acre, in the Cruzeiro do Sul region, from July to November 2023.

Material e Métodos

175 saliva samples were collected from patients treated at the gastroenterology clinic and who agreed to participate in the study by signing the informed consent form. The samples were collected on dry cotton and used for nucleic acid extraction using Trizol-type reagent. The diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 was carried out by Real-Time RT-PCR, with oligonucleotides and probes to detect the genes that encode the Nucleocapsid protein, Envelope, RNA-dependent RNA polymerase and Spike.

Resultados e Conclusão

76 samples were positive for SARS-CoV-2 (43.4%), distributed throughout the collection time and in the different cities of origin of the patients. The circulation of SARS-CoV-2 continues to occur, even after vaccination and a reduction in the morbidity of COVID-19 cases. The results obtained indicate the need to carry out tests for SARS-CoV-2 in individuals with gastric symptoms in the Cruzeiro do Sul region, in Acre.

Palavras Chave

SARS-CoV-2; gastrointestinal changes; COVID-19; RTqPCR.