CUHK finds virus in stool samples when others clear

CUHK finds virus in stool samples when others clear

Researchers at Chinese University's Faculty of Medicine said on Tuesday that they have found the new coronavirus in the stool of some confirmed patients whose respiratory system samples had tested negative.



The researchers said they had tested some 300 sputum, nasal, saliva, blood, urine and stool samples collected from 14 people known to have been infected with Covid-19.



The results showed that sputum had the highest level of the virus among all the samples. But in three of the patients, only their stool samples contained the virus.



Professor Paul Chan, who led the project, said they will carry out further investigations to see whether stool testing could help identify Covid-19 infections.



"Since the virus is in the stool, we could make use of this to try to help us detect cases, especially mild cases with no symptoms," Chan said, adding that people could collect their own samples at home for testing.



But he warned that the finding could also reveal a risk to people's health.



"Now the virus is in the stool, then this could be a means of spreading. For example, if people go to the toilet and they are not very careful about hygiene, there is a very good chance of spreading," he said.