Researchers said Thursday they have found evidence that the coronavirus infects the inside of the cheeks, the mucous membranes and the salivary glands.
Their findings, detailed in the journal Nature Medicine, could explain why so many people infected with coronavirus lose their sense of taste. They also suggest that the mouth is an important source of transmission of the virus.
Kevin Byrd, director of science at the American Dental Association, said, “When an infected saliva is swallowed or its tiny particles are inhaled, we think it’s likely that SARS-Cov-2 is in our throat, in our lungs or It can also infect our cows, “said Dr. A.S. Said Kevin Byrd. And the research institute, which worked on this study.
It is known that saliva testing is a good way to detect coronavirus infection, but why did the researchers not see the cause? The mouth, nose, sinuses, throat, and lungs are all connected, and the virus spreads to all areas where saliva is excreted or sucked.
Dr. of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. “We suspect that at least some of the virus in the saliva may come from infected tissues into the mouth,” said Blair Werner. Study.
Researchers tested oral tissues and placed cells inside the mouth with receptors – or cellular doorways – that coronaviruses, including the ASO2 receptor, used to infect them. They examined oral tissue samples from people who had died of Covid-19 and found the virus in about half of the salivary glands they tested.
They tested people with mild or asymptomatic covid-19, and found that saliva from cells in the mouth carries active RNA – an indication that the virus was replicating in cells. And they exposed cells in a lab dish to the saliva of eight people with asymptomatic covid-19 and managed to infect the cells – the saliva indicating that it could indeed be contagious.
They collected saliva from 35 volunteers working at NIH who had mild or asymptomatic covid-19. “In therapeutic individuals, the presence of SARS-Cavi-2 RNA in saliva was positively associated with ‘loss of taste and smell’ in the patient’s self-report,” the researchers wrote.
Researchers have also found evidence that people who test negative after a nasal swab sometimes continue to test positive in a saliva test. “These data highlight the possibility that the virus has been cleared from the nasopharynx but may remain in the saliva, indicating a steady flow of the virus from SARS-Cavi-2 infected oral sites,” they wrote.
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