What Role Do the Salivary Glands Play in COVID-19 Reinfection?

Researchers from the University of Utah are planning a study that will look at how the salivary glands impact Covid-19 reinfection. Reinfection of Covid-19 has proven to be a controversial subject. However, reinfection does seem to involve the salivary glands. As a result, researchers are focusing on their role in the contraction of Covid-19.

Covid-19 continues to cause havoc around the world, though research into this virus is gradually helping the overall recovery of humans around the world.

Now, researchers from the University of Utah are leading an investigation that will analyse whether or not salivary glands infected with Covid-19 could actually lessen a person’s long-term immunity to the virus post-vaccination, or even after recovery.

This research is part of the ongoing effort to analyse the factors involved in potential reinfection of Covid-19. This concept has already proven controversial, and has resulted in a lot of confusion and debate.

The salivary glands play an important role in Covid-19 research. Due to their interaction with proteins and the immune system, they are an area that many researchers are focusing on.

Covid-19: The Current State

Covid-19 remains a big threat to humanity. At the time of writing, around the world, there have been almost 250million cumulative cases reported [1]. In addition, there have been almost 5million deaths worldwide [1].

The attempt to vaccinate billions of people has made progress. Furthermore, the latest statistics show that 6billion vaccine doses have been administered [1].

The scientific community have been researching every aspect of Covid-19. This includes the Covid-19 vaccine efforts, tracing the origin of the virus, aggravating factors in recovery and in this case, reinfection.

Is it possible to catch Covid-19 twice?

Reinfection of Covid-19 has proven to be a contentious issue. The general consensus is that reinfection is possible, though it is rare. Many academics are “uncertain” [2]. Meanwhile, some have dismissed reinfection as a “myth” [3].

Some have attributed supposed reinfection to faulty PCR tests [4]. However, a widescale study in the United Kingdom found that reinfection was possible. But, less than 1% of participants in the study became reinfected with Covid-19 [5]. This suggested that reinfection was unlikely, but possible.

Where are the Salivary Glands and what do they do?

The Salivary Glands refer to the composition of three main glands and hundreds of smaller glands. They are located in the mouth. The salivary glands make saliva, which helps to keep the mouth moist, whilst aiding key functions of the mouth, such as chewing, tasting and swallowing food.

The salivary glands assist in food digestion through creating the enzymes that break down food. They are also connected to the immune system, and its antibodies are sometimes able to prevent infections in the mouth and throat.

Therefore, the salivary glands are a crucial area in the human body. As a result of their position in the body, they play a serious role in the contraction of Covid-19.

The upcoming research

The upcoming research will be focusing on the salivary glands and their role in the potential diminishing of a person’s long-term immunity to reinfection of Covid-19 [6]. This is even in the case of if a person has been vaccinated.

The research will look at whether the body’s ability to make antibodies is affected by when the salivary glands that have SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes Covid-19) [6]. Therefore, if this is affected, reinfection could be more likely. Viruses like SARS-CoV-2 are often found in the salivary glands. However, it isn’t entirely known how the virus gets there. It is believed that the most inner lining of the oral cavity, called mucosa, is usually the entry point for any virus [6].

Assistant Professor Melodie Weller, of University of Utah, has been commenting on the upcoming study. Weller explained that proteins that emanate from the food we eat, are released into the saliva [6].

Weller says “we swallow a lot of saliva every day” [6]. But a problem is that viruses also contain proteins. Therefore, our immune system cannot always detect the difference in proteins. As a result, viruses can bypass the salivary glands and attack our immune system.

Consequently, this can affect how long immunity will last, even after inoculation. As a result, Weller states that it is crucial to “understand the role of SARS-CoV-2 in the salivary glands” [6].

Moreover, an increase in the understanding of this area can result in improved knowledge of how “reinfection and breakthrough infections after immunization are occurring during this pandemic”, Weller says [6].

Based on the above, the researchers believe that the SARS-CoV-2 released from the salivary glands could impede the production of antibodies. Because of this, the risk of relapse or reinfection appears to increase. Therefore, this may limit the long-term effectiveness of vaccines.

The next steps

This research will continue the scientific community’s efforts to understand more about Covid-19. The University of Utah’s research will aim to build on pre-existing research that has found SARS-CoV-2 infects and replicates in the salivary glands [7].

The researchers will be testing their theory on mice. They will be administering protein to the salivary glands of the mice. The Covid-19 vaccine will then be applied, and researchers will wait to see how they respond.

Their findings will be important in analyzing the effectiveness of the vaccines in the long-term, and the role of the salivary glands. Finally, either way, it will add to the ongoing body of research into Covid-19.

What we offer at Savanna Dental

Savanna Dental is a dental clinic based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.We provide our patients with a warm welcome, a comfortable experience and advice whenever needed.

We recommend that our patients attend our Calgary-based dental clinic twice a year for a regular dental check-up. When problems are detected, we have many treatments available. For instance, these include cavity fillings and root canals.

In addition, all of our services at our Calgary dental clinic Savanna Dental are in line with the Alberta Dental Fee Guide.

We would love you to visit our Savanna Dental dental clinic in Calgary! You can find out more about us by visiting our website https://savannadentalclinic.ca.

• [1] World Health Organization. (2021). WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard. Available: https://covid19.who.int/. Last accessed: 30th October 2021.
• [2] Hanrath, A. T., Payne, B. A. I., & Duncan, C. J. A. (2020). Prior SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with protection against symptomatic reinfection. The Journal of Infection. 82 (4): p29-30.
• [3] Roy, S. (2020). COVID-19 Reinfection: Myth or Truth?. SN Comprehensive Clinical Medicine. 2 (1): p710-713.
• [4] Krishna, E., Pathak, V. K., Prasad, R., Jose, H., & Mumar, M. M. (2020). COVID-19 reinfection: Linked Possibilities and future outlook. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care. 9 (11): p5445-5449.
• [5] Hall, V., Foulkes, S., Charlett, A., Atti, A., Monk, E. J. M.., Simmons, R., Wellington, E., Cole, M. J., Saei, A., Oguti, B., Munro, K., Wallace, S., Kirwan, P. D., Shrotri, M., Vusirikala, A., Rokadiya, M., Kall, Zambon, M., Ramsay, M., Brooks, T., Brown, C. S., Chand, M. A., Hopkins, S. (2020). Do antibody positive healthcare workers have lower SARS-CoV-2 infection rates than antibody negative healthcare workers? Large multi-centre prospective cohort study (the SIREN study), England: June to November 2020. SIREN Study Group. Available: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.01.13.21249642. Last accessed: 30th October 2021.
• [6] University of Utah Health Sciences. (2021). Can salivary glands infected with COVID-19 increase risk for relapse or reinfection?. Available: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-10-salivary-glands-infected-covid-relapse.html. Last accessed: 30th October 2021.
• [7] Matuck, B. F., Dolhnikoff, M., Duarte-Neto, A. N., Maia, G., Gomes, S. C., Sendyk, D. I. & Zarpellon, A. (2021). Salivary glands are a target for SARS-CoV-2: a source for saliva contamination. The Journal of Pathology. 254 (3): p239-243.