It is known that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can be detected in the stools of patients with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and that the virus can be transmitted by oral-fecal route. However, there are few reports on the viral load in stools. This pilot study aimed to evaluate the clinical characteristics and viral load of SARS-CoV-2 in the stools of 13 patients with confirmed COVID-19 using as control the pepper mild mottle virus, which was proposed as a potential indicator of human fecal contamination of environmental water. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in stool samples from four patients (31%), among whom three presented diarrhea symptoms. One patient experiencing long-term diarrhea (22 days) had high levels of viral RNA in the stools (8.28 log10 copies/g). However, we could not isolate the SARS-CoV-2 in the stool of any patients, using VeroE6/TMPRESS2 cells for four weeks. Our results suggest that SARS-CoV-2 RNA may be detected in the stools of patients with the diarrhea symptoms. Further studies evaluating the relationship between SARS-CoV-2 viral load in stools and diarrhea symptoms in larger patient cohorts and upon adjusting for other causative factors and virus infectivity are still needed.

众所周知，可以在 2019 年冠状病毒病 (COVID-19) 患者的粪便中检测到严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒 2 (SARS-CoV-2)，并且该病毒可以通过口-粪途径传播。然而，关于粪便中病毒载量的报道很少。这项初步研究旨在评估 13 名确诊 COVID-19 患者粪便中 SARS-CoV-2 的临床特征和病毒载量，使用辣椒轻度斑驳病毒作为对照，该病毒被提议作为人类粪便污染的潜在指标环境用水。在四名患者（31%）的粪便样本中检测到 SARS-CoV-2 RNA，其中三人出现腹泻症状。一名经历长期腹泻（22 天）的患者粪便中病毒 RNA 水平较高（8.28 log10 拷贝/g）。然而，我们无法在任何患者的粪便中分离出 SARS-CoV-2，使用 VeroE6/TMPRESS2 细胞 4 周。我们的研究结果表明，可能在有腹泻症状的患者的粪便中检测到 SARS-CoV-2 RNA。仍需要进一步研究评估粪便中 SARS-CoV-2 病毒载量与更大患者群体腹泻症状之间的关系，并在调整其他致病因素和病毒感染性后进行。