Introduction
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has changed the way we live our lives, and it has also changed the way we think about food and drink. A new study has found that it is possible to contract COVID-19 through food and drink if you have a certain condition. This study has important implications for how we handle food and drink during the pandemic, and it is important to understand the risks associated with this condition. In this article, we will discuss the findings of the study and what it means for those who are at risk.
It’s Possible to Contract COVID Via Food and Drink If You Have This Condition, Study Says
A new study has found that people with a certain medical condition may be at risk of contracting COVID-19 through food and drink. The study, published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, looked at the risk of transmission of the virus through food and drink for people with weakened immune systems.
The study found that people with weakened immune systems, such as those with HIV, cancer, or other immunosuppressive conditions, may be at an increased risk of contracting the virus through food and drink. The study also found that the risk of transmission was higher when food and drink were shared with someone who was already infected with the virus.
The study’s authors noted that the risk of transmission through food and drink was low, but that it was still important to take precautions. They recommended that people with weakened immune systems should avoid sharing food and drink with people who are known to be infected with the virus, and should also take extra precautions when preparing food and drinks.
The authors also noted that the risk of transmission through food and drink was likely to be higher in areas where the virus is more prevalent. They recommended that people in these areas should take extra precautions when preparing food and drinks, such as washing their hands and surfaces regularly, and avoiding sharing food and drinks with people who are known to be infected with the virus.
The study’s authors concluded that while the risk of transmission through food and drink was low, it was still important to take precautions to reduce the risk of transmission. They recommended that people with weakened immune systems should take extra precautions when preparing food and drinks, and should avoid sharing food and drinks with people who are known to be infected with the virus.
Up till this level, scientists and well being consultants alike have reassured the general public that it is extremely unlikely to contract the virus that causes COVID-19 by meals or drinks. Now, analysis means that some individuals might have a larger threat of turning into contaminated with the novel coronavirus after swallowing one thing that is contaminated.
A brand new examine set to debut within the journal Gastroenterology this spring suggests that folks with a standard dysfunction referred to as Barrett’s esophagus, which is a complication of gastroesophageal reflux illness (GERD), might doubtlessly contract the virus by meals. (Associated: The One Vitamin Docs Are Urging Everybody to Take Proper Now.)
“There isn’t any proof but that folks with Barrett’s esophagus have larger charges of COVID-19 or are at any larger threat, however a part of the reason being as a result of that hasn’t been studied,” Jason C. Mills, MD, PhD of the Washington College Faculty of Medication in St. Louis and the senior investigator of the examine, stated in a assertion. “Now that we have linked these dots, it might be worthwhile to look and see whether or not individuals with Barrett’s have larger charges of an infection.”
In some individuals, the event of Barrett’s esophagus might precede adenocarcinoma, which is a sort of most cancers that varieties within the decrease esophagus. In recent times, charges of adenocarcinoma have elevated, particularly in white males, in keeping with the Oregon Clinic.
How might somebody with Barrett’s esophagus contract the novel coronavirus by meals?
In a wholesome particular person, it is believed that even when foods and drinks had been to comprise viral particles of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes the infectious illness COVID-19), abdomen acid would shortly neutralize them. Nevertheless, people who’ve gastric reflux might undergo from long-term injury to the esophagus, as abdomen acid routinely backs up into it. About one in 5 individuals have reflux illness, which causes signs reminiscent of heartburn.
Over time, in addition to in some individuals with GERD, cells within the esophagus can change and start to resemble intestinal cells. Here is the place the gateway to an infection might come into play: Intestinal cells have receptors which are able to binding to the novel coronavirus, which led the researchers to imagine that the cells lining the esophagus in these with Barrett’s might additionally develop these receptors.
By then consuming or consuming one thing that was contaminated with energetic, viral particles, the receptors might, in idea, bind to the virus and infect the particular person.
“You may think about that if somebody already has low ranges of the virus of their respiratory tract, that particular person might swallow some respiratory secretions, and the virus might infect cells within the esophagus to make them sicker that method,” Ramon U. Jin, MD, PhD, the paper’s co-first creator and a medical fellow within the Division of Medical Oncology who research Barrett’s esophagus, stated in a press launch.
What did this examine reveal?
The researchers analyzed tissue from 30 sufferers with Barrett’s esophagus. What did they discover? Every tissue pattern had receptors for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, one thing which regular esophagus cells lack.
The scientists then constructed mini esophagus organs utilizing these tissue samples and others in dishes, with cells sourced from each wholesome individuals and people with Barrett’s esophagus. Positive sufficient, the virus was capable of bind to these receptors and infect the mini organs made out of the tissue and cells of somebody with the situation.
How did the connection between Barrett’s esophagus and COVID-19 come about?
Jeffrey Wade Brown, MD, PhD—an teacher in medication on the Division of Gastroenterology, and the opposite co-first creator of the examine—explains that he and his colleagues within the Mills Lab on the Washington College Faculty of Medication examine how cells’ identification adjustments after damage. These adjustments are also known as metaplasia among the many scientific group, they usually additionally have a tendency to indicate precursors to most cancers.
Different researchers on the college had already discovered that intestinal cells remoted in a dish had been vulnerable to an infection with SARS-CoV-2. This prompted Brown and his colleagues to surprise if the intestinal cells (which resulted from metaplasia) in these with Barrett’s esophagus would then trigger these sufferers to be extra vulnerable to an infection.
“The largest takeaway from our work is that now we have doubtlessly recognized individuals, these with Barrett’s esophagus, who is likely to be extra vulnerable to an infection by SARS-CoV-2, as a result of they is likely to be affected by swallowing virus—not simply respiratory it in,” Brown tells Eat This, Not That!
“Future research utilizing knowledge from giant affected person populations will likely be wanted to verify our suspicion that sufferers with Barrett’s esophagus are at larger threat of both creating the illness or have a extra extreme type of illness than the final inhabitants.”
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