Open AccessOral manifestations of COVID-19: Brief review
Author(s) -
Anna Paradowska-Stolarz
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
dental and medical problems
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.249
H-Index - 8
eISSN - 2300-9020
pISSN - 1644-387X
DOI - 10.17219/dmp/131989
Subject(s) - dysgeusia , medicine , virus , disease , herpes simplex virus , immunology , stomatitis , exacerbation , immune system , coronavirus , virology , oral mucosa , dermatology , covid-19 , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , adverse effect
The infection with a new type of virus - severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) - called coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was first described in December 2019, in Wuhan, China. Due to the gastrointestinal mucosa tropism of the virus, an attempt was made to describe the oral manifestations of the SARS-CoV-2 infection. Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), which permits the attachment of the virus, is present also in the oral cavity. There are many symptoms in the oral cavity; among them, the most prevalent ones are dysgeusia (taste disorders), oral pain, the exacerbation of autoimmune diseases as well as the herpes simplex virus (HSV) and varicella zoster virus (VZV) infections. Ulcerations and aphthous stomatitis are also often mentioned. The research shows that there are many oral symptoms in COVID-19, but the coexistence with the main disease has not been fully stated and understood. There is still no clearance on whether the oral symptoms are the manifestations of the disease or occur due to the loss of the immune response. Therefore, further studies on this subject should be conducted.