An update on oral clinical courses among patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection: A clinical follow-up (a prospective prevalent cohort) study (preprint)

ABSTRACT

Abstract Introduction Contemporary literature has revealed that Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes acute sialadenitis and related symptoms, such as discomfort, pain, swelling, and secretory dysfunction in salivary glands. The secretory dysfunction is due to SARS-CoV-2 infection-induced xerostomia and other associated clinical courses such as sore tongue, mucosal ulcer, and gingivitis in the oral cavity. Furthermore, it has been reported that COVID-19 causes the development of other oral manifestations. Materials and Methods A prospective clinical follow-up (a prevalent cohort) study was conducted to identify the possible oral manifestations of SARS-CoV-2 infection among patients admitted at the Eka General Hospital COVID-19 treatment center. Furthermore, the study aimed to calculate the prevalence rate of oral clinical courses in the cohorts. The study had two follow-up phases Hospital and patient-home-based. Results A total of 55 patients (36 males and 19 females) met the inclusion criteria and were followed for 7.5 weeks. The 3.5 weeks hospital-based prospective follow-up study documented an 18% (n=10) prevalence rate of oral clinical courses among the cohorts. Twelve oral symptoms appeared in these ten patients. The manifested oral symptoms were oral mucosal lesions (n=6), xerostomia (n=5), and thickening of saliva (n=1). The oral mucosal lesions per se consisted of aphthous lesions (n=3), candidiasis (n=1), geographic tongue (n=1), and localized gingivitis (n=1). On the other hand, the four weeks home-based follow-up study disclosed four newly manifested oral symptoms hemorrhagic crust, bulla, buccal mucositis, and petechiae. These manifestations appeared among six patients (four males and two females) who had not manifested any oral symptoms during the hospital-based follow-up. Accordingly, the overall prevalence of oral clinical courses among patients presented with SARS-CoV-2 is raised from 18% (n=10) to 29% (n=16). Similarly, the number of clinical courses increased from 12 to 16 after four additional weeks of follow-up. Discussion The study's findings suggest the importance of initiating oral health care for patients with COVID-19. Therefore, multidisciplinary healthcare approaches should be delivered to assure optimal health outcomes. Accordingly, oral health professionals must be a substantial part of the interdisciplinary approach in caring for patients with COVID-19.