Can a stomach virus cause appendicitis or is it likely it was just appendicitis all along?

Domino effect,,, Appendicitis often follows a non specific event in the bowel (like a gut virus or reaction to foods) that triggers localized lymph nodes to swell. If the nodes are near the entrance to the appendix, that swelling can eventually lead to appendicitis by choking off the blood flow at the entrance to the structure like a tourniquet. Time to develop varies.