Among the many strange and unexpected symptoms of COVID-19, the leading professor in the United Kingdom recently highlighted another lesser known symptom of the infection affecting a person’s mouth: ‘COVID tongue’.
Professor Tim Spector, a genetic epidemiologist from King’s College London, tweeted a photo of an anonymous person’s tongue covered with unusual white spots, which he calls ‘COVID tongue’.
As Spector notes, “COVID tongue” is not listed on any of the official COVID-19 public health lists in England. There is also no mention of oral symptoms on the main symptoms listed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the World Health Organization. Nevertheless, he claims that it may be an important sign that you have the infection and need to stay home to isolate yourself.
“One in five people with Covid still have less common symptoms that do not appear on the official PHE [Public Health England] list – like skin rash, ”said Professor Spector tweeted on Wednesday. ‘See an increasing number of Covid tongues and strange mouth sores. If you have a strange symptom or even just have headaches and fatigue, then stay home! ‘
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Professor Spector is the leader of the ZOE COVID symptom study app, which enables people to report their COVID-19 symptoms and report them themselves if they become infected. With more than 4.5 million people contributing data worldwide, the app is part of one of the largest ongoing studies in the world of COVID-19 and hopes to provide new scientific understanding of the different symptoms that the virus causes in different people .
This is not the first time that COVID-19 has been linked to symptoms of the tongue and mouth. Research published in the Nature Journal Evidence-based dentistry in June 2020, three COVID-19 patients who had oral ulceration or blisters in the mouth were detailed, probably due to their infection. Another study, published in JAMA Dermatology looked at 21 COVID-19 patients in Spain who had skin rashes and found that six individuals (29 percent) also had a mouth rash, such as small red spots on the inside of the mouth. In most of the cases studied, it appears that the oral symptoms were not linked to any medication used by the patients, which led the researchers to conclude that it was a symptom of their COVID-19 infection. .
Other studies have also shown that the virus that causes COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, can directly infect the mouth. A preprinted paper, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, explains that researchers have detected a SARS-CoV-2 in the salivary glands and mucous membranes of people with COVID-19.
There are even unconfirmed reports that people with COVID-19 have lost their teeth IFLScience spoke to a dentist who were skeptical that the infection was primarily responsible for the loss of the teeth.