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. 2021 Apr;100(2_suppl):155S-157S.
doi: 10.1177/0145561320966067. Epub 2020 Oct 15.

Assessment of SARS-CoV-2 in the Cerumen of COVID-19-Positive Patients

Yuce Islamoglu  1 , Sami Bercin  2 , Sibel Aydogan  3 , Alp Sener  4 , Fatih Tanriverdi  4 , Gul Pamukcu Gunaydin  4 , Bedia Dinc  3
Affiliations

Assessment of SARS-CoV-2 in the Cerumen of COVID-19-Positive Patients

Yuce Islamoglu et al. Ear Nose Throat J. 2021 Apr.

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the presence of SARS-CoV-2 virus in the cerumen of patients with COVID-19.

Methods: A prospective study was conducted in a tertiary care pandemic hospital. Sixty COVID-19 patients with cerumen in their external auditory canals were included in the study. Swabs were taken from the external auditory canal of the patients by an experienced otolaryngologist with the test swab. Sampling was done by rotating the sample swab 360° 10 times in each external auditory canal for a total of 20 times. After collection, swabs were placed into 2 mL of the sterile viral transport medium (various manufacturers), then transported and tested as soon as possible after collection.

Results: SARS-CoV-2 was not detected in the cerumen polymerase chain reaction (PCR) samples of any of the 60 patients with positive nasopharyngeal/oropharyngeal swabs.

Conclusion: Cerumen cleaning is one of the most common procedures performed by otolaryngologists, and care should be taken during the procedure or due to the possibility of infection from the resulting contaminants. The cerumen contains the secretions of the glands in the external auditory canal and may contain certain pathogens that are actively found in the body. The presence of hepatitis B virus in the cerumen was examined and isolated in the cerumen. In our study, the presence of SARS-CoV-2 virus in the cerumen was evaluated in SARS-CoV-2 PCR-positive patients. SARS-CoV-2 virus was not detected in the cerumen samples of any of the patients.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; cerumen; external auditory canal.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Comment in

  • SARS-CoV-2 Presence in Cerumen.
    Celik S, Kalcioglu MT, Esen F, Hanege FM, Cag Y, Kocoglu E. Celik S, et al. Ear Nose Throat J. 2021 Apr;100(2_suppl):158S-159S. doi: 10.1177/0145561320981451. Epub 2020 Dec 15. Ear Nose Throat J. 2021. PMID: 33319584

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