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Review
. 2020 Apr 17;12(1):11.
doi: 10.1038/s41368-020-0080-z.

Saliva: potential diagnostic value and transmission of 2019-nCoV

Ruoshi Xu  1 , Bomiao Cui  2 , Xiaobo Duan  1 , Ping Zhang  2 , Xuedong Zhou  3 , Quan Yuan  1
Affiliations
Review

Saliva: potential diagnostic value and transmission of 2019-nCoV

Ruoshi Xu et al. Int J Oral Sci. .

Abstract

2019-nCoV epidemic was firstly reported at late December of 2019 and has caused a global outbreak of COVID-19 now. Saliva, a biofluid largely generated from salivary glands in oral cavity, has been reported 2019-nCoV nucleic acid positive. Besides lungs, salivary glands and tongue are possibly another hosts of 2019-nCoV due to expression of ACE2. Close contact or short-range transmission of infectious saliva droplets is a primary mode for 2019-nCoV to disseminate as claimed by WHO, while long-distance saliva aerosol transmission is highly environment dependent within indoor space with aerosol-generating procedures such as dental practice. So far, no direct evidence has been found that 2019-nCoV is vital in air flow for long time. Therefore, to prevent formation of infectious saliva droplets, to thoroughly disinfect indoor air and to block acquisition of saliva droplets could slow down 2019-nCoV dissemination. This review summarizes diagnostic value of saliva for 2019-nCoV, possibly direct invasion into oral tissues, and close contact transmission of 2019-nCoV by saliva droplets, expecting to contribute to 2019-nCoV epidemic control.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Potential diagnostic value of saliva and transmission of 2019-nCoV. Possibly combing to host-cell receptor of ACE2 expressed in salivary glands and tongue, 2019-nCoV is detected in saliva. Combined with infectious fluids from respiratory system, 2019-nCoV via large saliva droplets sets up short-distance transmission and hardly form long-distance aerosol transmission outdoors due to complicated physical and biological decay. Prevention of droplets formation, implementation of air disinfection, and blockage of droplets acquisition could possibly slow down 2019-nCoV dissemination
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