Digestive manifestations of SARS-COV2 infection in Togo

Objective: to identify the main digestive manifestations related to SARS-CoV-2 in Togo and to determine their impact on the prognosis of the disease. Patients and method: This was a cross-sectional study with retrospective and prospective collection, with descriptive and analytical aims, conducted from May 1, 2020 to April 30, 2021 at the national center for the management of infectious diseases of Lome. Patients of both sexes and of any age, tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 by PCR on nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal samples and hospitalized at the national center for infectious disease management of Lome were included in this study. Digestive manifestations were divided into gastrointestinal manifestations and hepatobiliary manifestations. The threshold of significance of the tests was retained for a p value less than or equal to 0.05. Results: out of 876 patients hospitalized during the study period, 215 presented with digestive manifestations, corresponding to a prevalence of 24.54%. the predominance was male, with a male/female sex ratio of 1.74. the mean age was 46.07+/-16.14 [02 months – 82 years]. gastrointestinal manifestations were found in 11.98% of cases. abdominal pain was the most frequent digestive symptom (15.35%). hepatobiliary manifestations were represented by cytolysis syndrome (44.19%) and cholestasis syndrome (36.28%). digestive manifestations were associated with renal failure (p=0.03) and thrombocytosis (p<0.01). The occurrence of death was associated with a decrease in HDL-cholesterol (p<0.001) and the presence of renal failure (p=0.027). The cure rate in our study was 83.72% with a lethality of 16.27%. Conclusion: the digestive manifestations constitute a not negligible form of revelation of the disease with coronavirus 2019. The best prevention is the vaccination and the respect of the measures of social distanciation.