SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Taste Alteration: An Overview.
Life (Basel)
; 12(5)2022 May 06.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1875686
ABSTRACT
Since the worldwide spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection, the management of COVID-19 has been a challenge for healthcare professionals. Although the respiratory system has primarily been affected with symptoms ranging from mild pneumonia to acute respiratory distress syndrome, other organs or systems have also been targets of the virus. The mouth represents an important route of entry for SARS-CoV-2. Cells in the oral epithelium, taste buds, and minor and major salivary glands express cellular entry factors for the virus, such as ACE2, TMPRSS2 and Furin. This leads to symptoms such as deterioration of taste, salivary dysfunction, mucosal ulcers, before systemic manifestation of the disease. In this review we report and discuss the prevalence and socio-demographics of taste disturbances in COVID-19 patients, analysing the current international data. Importantly, we also take stock of the various hypothesized pathogenetic mechanisms and their impact on the reported symptoms. The literature indicated that COVID-19 patients frequently present with gustatory dysfunction, whose prevalence varies by country, age and sex. Furthermore, this dysfunction also has a variable duration in relation to the severity of the disease. The pathogenetic action is intricately linked to viral action which can be expressed in several ways. However, in many cases these are only hypotheses that need further confirmation.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Language:
English
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Life12050690
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