While testing for and confirmation of coronavirus infection is currently conducted via oral swabs, scientists report evidence of an oral-fecal transmission route, according to an article on the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy website.
In hospitalized patients, viral RNA was found in anal swabs and in blood samples.The study was conducted in a Wuhan, China, hospital, with samples collected from 178 patients.
The study authors found the virus in anal swabs or blood even when it was not detected in oral swabs.
The results of the study are the first to show the coronavirus could be transmitted via respiratory, fecal-oral, or body fluid routes, the authors say.
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