Could the oral cavity be a target organ in SARS-CoV-2 infection?

Abstract

Data sources A series of eight patients with active COVID-19 who also presented with associated oral lesions seen at a hospital in Sao Paulo, Brazil provided the information in this report.Study selection The authors reported a case series with eight COVID-19 patients.Data extraction and synthesis Demographic information, hospitalisation details including signs, symptoms and severity of COVID-19, along with presence of anosmia, dysgeusia, ageusia and oral lesions from all eight patients were documented and reported by the authors.Results All eight patients in this report presented for medical care with well-established respiratory symptoms of COVID-19. These patients also presented with oral ulcers that resembled aphthous ulcers, of which some also had necrosis and haemorrhagic ulcerations. The time to onset ranged between two to ten days and duration lasted between 5-15 days. The painful ulcers were empirically managed using daily photobiomodulation (PBMT) therapy using a PBMT device (Twin Flex, MMOptics, Sao Carlos, Brazil).Conclusions Oral lesions may precede COVID-19 and progressively worse oral lesions are seen in severe COVID-19 patients. Some of these oral lesions also tend to occur early along with loss of taste and smell in some patients. Taken together, these oral manifestations could serve as early indication of COVID-19 and prompt referral for further testing is recommended.