Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) related to COVID-19: Review article

ABSTRACT

The pandemic of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) or Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is still ongoing. The outbreak of this new emerging contagious disease has impacted a wide range of sectors including health and economics. Much information about COVID-19 has been discovered by many laboratories, and action taken in various ways as quickly as possible to inhibit the outbreak. It was found that COVID-19 is a ribonucleic acid virus (RNA virus) that can cause infection among humans. Moreover, it can mutate and spread contagiously mainly through the respiratory system. The most common symptoms are cough and fever. Many patients could develop to either pneumonitis or respiratory failure. The SARS-CoV-2 virus can infect various organs, the main infections being in lungs and rectum. In these cases, many laboratories can isolate the virus from oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal swab and then apply the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test to identify the COVID-19 virus. Many of the viral infections can cause cystitis by immunologic response. There is a study that showed the SARS-CoV-2 virus could be isolated from the urine sample. The patients had significant changes in urinary storage for frequency, urgency, and urinary incontinence during infected period, which improved after the disease resolved. Moreover, there is a study that reported that the COVID-19 patients who had the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) scores of 20 to 35 had significantly longer hospital stays, more frequent intensive care requirements, and higher mortality rates. Therefore, physician and medical personnel should be aware of the irritative voiding symptoms that might be the presenting symptoms of COVID-19. Furthermore, as many studies have shown that the virus can be excreted in urine, thus, the virus could be contagious via urinary contamination.