THE ROLE OF SALIVA IN THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: DIAGNOSTIC ALTERNATIVE FOR A GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH PROBLEM

Abstract

The aim of this study was to review the available evidence on the role of saliva in the diagnosis of Covid-19. This is a narrative review of the literature of a qualitative nature whose search was carried out from the digital databases PubMed, Academic Google and Scielo, in Portuguese and English, using the terms “Covid-19”, “Diagnosis” and “Saliva”. It was observed that the use of saliva in order to monitor a person's state of health and illness it became an objective extremely desirable in terms of health promotion and health care research. In this sense, saliva samples can be used in the diagnosis of Covid-19. A critical obstacle for salivary diagnosis may be broad-spectrum validation in patients with Covid-19 during the incubation period, the viral response phase, and the host inflammatory phase in asymptomatic and symptomatic patients. It is concluded that saliva may have potential applications in the context of Covid-19, but further studies are needed to investigate the diagnostic potential of Covid-19 in saliva and its impact on the transmission of this virus.

Keywords: Covid-19. Diagnosis. Spittle.