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Background The latest novel corona virus disease (COVID-19) pandemic shows a significant health concern. We aimed to study the prevalence of gastrointestinal symptoms among COVID-19 Egyptian patients. Methods A cross-sectional study was carried out on 860 patients with COVID-19 infection classified according to Ministry of Health Program (MOHP) into three groups (280 patients with mild disease, 258 patients with moderate disease and 322 patients with severe disease). All patients were subjected to medical history, clinical examination, laboratory investigations, high-resolution computed tomography chest (HRCT chest) and other investigations when needed in some patients e.g., upper gastro-intestinal (GI) endoscopy, abdomino-pelvic ultrasound and ECHO. Results Gastro-intestinal symptoms were present in 27.2% of the studied patients. The most common reported GIT symptoms were vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal/gastric pain, followed by nausea.GIT symptoms presence was significantly higher in severe cases in comparison to mild or moderate cases. C-reactive protein (CRP), serum ferritin, Aspartate aminotransferase (AST), bilirubin and creatinine were significantly associated with the presence of GI symptoms. Conclusions GI symptoms are prevalent among COVID-19 patients, the most common which were vomiting and diarrhea and were associated with COVID-19 severity.

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Conclusion:The prevalence of GERD in the patients with interstitial lung disease was high and may be an important contributor to the development of interstitial lung diseases .