S.S. YASHIN, E.D. MAKAROVA, M.A. DANIELIAN

Samara State Medical University, Samara

  Contact details:

Yashin S.S. — Senior Lecturer of the Department of General and Clinical Pathology: Pathological Anatomy, Pathological Physiology

Address: 89 Chapayevskaya St., Samara, Russian Federation, 443099, tel.: +7-927-739-42-10, e-mail: s.s.yashin@samsmu.ru

 Patients with COVID-19 most often have severe respiratory diseases, while about 19% of patients with COVID-19 exhibit gastrointestinal disorders.

Excessive use of antibacterial drugs increases the risk of changes in the microbiota, the appearance of diarrhea and infection with Clostridioides difficile (CDI). Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is a severe infectious disease of the colon caused by an obligate anaerobic organism releasing two main exotoxins: toxin A (TcdA) and toxin B (TcdB), which cause CDI symptoms: intestinal damage and inflammation of the mucous membrane, which leads to a serious complication – pseudomembranous colitis. This disease is difficult to treat and may cause a relapse. That is why emphasis is currently being put on the prevention of this disease.

Key words: COVID-19, Clostridium difficile, pseudomembranous colitis, antibiotic-associated colitis.

REFERENCES

1. Spigaglia P. COVID-19 and Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI): Possible implications for elderly patients. Anaerobe, 2020, vol. 64, p. 102233. DOI: 10.1016/j.anaerobe.2020.102233
2. Neurath M.F. COVID-19 and immunomodulation in IBD. Gut, 2020, vol. 69 (7), pp. 1335–1342. DOI: 10.1136/gutjnl-2020-321269
3. Naderpour Z., Saeedi M. A primer on COVID-19 for clinicians: clinical manifestation and natural course. Adv J Emerg Med, 2020, vol. 44, p. e62. DOI: 10.22114/ajem.v4i2s.418
4. Shirani K., Sheikhbahaei E., Torkpour Z. et al. A Narrative Review of COVID-19: The New Pandemic Disease. Iran J Med Sci, 2020, vol. 45 (4), pp. 233–249. DOI: 10.30476/ijms.2020.85869.1549
5. Xiao F., Tang M., Zheng X., Liu Y., Li X., Shan H. Evidence for Gastrointestinal Infection of SARS-CoV-2. Gastroenterology, 2020, vol. 158 (6), pp. 1831–1833, p. e3. DOI: 10.1053/j.gastro.2020.02.055
6. Guo Y.R., Cao Q.D., Hong Z.S., et al. The origin, transmission and clinical therapies on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak — an update on the status. Mil Med Res, 2020, vol. 7 (1), p. 11. DOI: 10.1186/s40779-020-00240-0