The salivary glands are the reservoir for the spread of coronavirus infection in the human body, as Brazilian scientists have found, The Journal of Pathology reported.
Experts analyzed samples of three types of salivary glands (parotid, submandibular and small) from adult patients who died from COVID-19. It turned out that it is the tissues responsible for the production and secretion of saliva that serve as reservoirs for the virus. Scientists have discovered not only the presence of the pathogen, but also its replication in cells.
According to one of the study’s authors, this discovery may help explain why SARS-CoV-2 is so contagious. It was previously thought that only viruses that cause common diseases such as herpes use the salivary glands as reservoirs.
