Consultant in internal medicine, gastroenterology and liver transplant, Dr. Wafaa Al-Hashash, confirmed in a TV interview the widespread of a stomach flu that had infected about 50% of the population in the GCC states. Al-Hashash stressed the importance of containing the disease by early detection. She stated that the stomach germ is a spiral bacterium inhabiting and multiplying in the lining walls of the stomach. Even though scientists have yet to uncover how the disease is transmitted, Al-Hashash noted that observing the symptoms is crucial in the full recovery of the patient.
Symptoms include severe pain in the stomach, reflux esophagus with acidity, and extreme nausea or vomiting. According to Al-Hashash, if symptoms persist, infected patients should be treated immediately as complications could be serious and may cause possible inflammation of the stomach lining, ulcers, internal bleeding, and cancer, adding that the disease has shown parallel characteristics with the coronavirus disease.