Ulcerative Colitis Developed in a COVID-19 Patient: A Case Report
Abstract Background: COVID-19 pneumonia is a widespread viral disease, which affects all the world and has been accepted as pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). Coronavirus can remain in the stool for certain time even after recovery from COVID-19 pneumonia in some infected patients. Studies increasingly report involvement of other organs including gastrointestinal system in addition to respiratory symptoms in COVID-19. Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory bowel disease with unknown cause. Emerging data suggest that gastrointestinal system may also be influenced by COVID-19 based via the expression of ACE-2. However, data abour the association of COVID-19 and inflammatory bowel diseases including ulcerative colitis are lacking. Case Presentation: In this report, we present a case of ulcerative colitis diagnosed in a 50-year-old male patient who presented with the complaints of bloody diarrhea and abdominal pain following the completion of the treatment of COVID-19 pneumonia. Conclusion: Patients presenting with gastrointestnal complaints should also be evaluated for COVID-19.