Norovirus and rotavirus, which cause gastrointestinal infections, can also be transmitted through saliva. This was shown in a study with mice and human salivary gland cells.
So far, doctors have assumed that infections with these viruses almost exclusively take place via contaminated food. A research team from the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda (Maryland, USA) describes the new route of infection in the journal “Nature”.
The results of the study indicate that hygiene measures, in addition to those preventing the spread of faeces, may be necessary to prevent transmission of enteric viruses in the community.
In the faecal-oral transmission path, tiny amounts of faeces, for example through contaminated food or drinking water, get into the mouth. ‘Our results draw attention to infection of salivary glands with enteric viruses and saliva as a potentially more significant route of transmission through coughing, sneezing and kissing compared to the accepted route of transmission, faecal contamination,’ the study states.
vomiting and diarrhea
Noro- and rotaviruses multiply in the intestinal wall and cause abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea in those infected. According to the “Global Burden of Disease” study from 2018, there are around 300 million infections with these viruses in children alone every year, and around 200,000 children die.
Source: Nachrichten
