The importance of the debate on occupational risk factors of COVID-19 for dental professionals

Candido, Érika Mageste de Almeida; Maranduba, Carlos Magno da Costa; Vaca, Melissa Mariana Gómez; de Castro e Souza, Marcos Henrique; Silva, Warley Oliveira; Carmo, Antônio Márcio Resende do

doi:10.31744/einstein_journal/2024CE1217

Dear Editor,

The article titled "Factors underlying the high occupational risk of healthcare personnel for COVID-19 infection,"(¹) published in this journal, contributes to the discussion on the occupational risk of SARS-CoV-2 contamination among health professionals and the relevance of the application of infection-prevention and control measures in routine care.

Bodily fluids have a high potential for SARS-CoV-2 transmission. The detectable concentration of the virus in early stages of the disease in saliva,(²) coupled with the ease of its collection, renders saliva of diagnostic value to detect SARS-CoV-2.(³) If, on one hand, saliva has great diagnostic value, on the other hand, it has a high potential for transmission. Therefore, dental professionals should have the same, if not greater, level of concern as other health professionals, as in their routine clinical practice, they are exposed to highly contaminating fluids such as blood and, especially, saliva (without exception), by direct, indirect (contamined objects and surfaces) and aerosol contact.(⁴)

REFERENCES

¹ Crispim PM, Kawagoe JY, Rosseti AC, Menezes FG. Factors underlying the high occupational risk of healthcare personnel for COVID-19 infection. einstein (São Paulo). 2024;22:eAO0433.
² Zhang W, Du RH, Li B, Zheng XS, Yang XL, Hu B, et al. Molecular and serological investigation of 2019-nCoV infected patients: implication of multiple shedding routes. Emerg Microbes Infect. 2020;9(1):386-9.
³ Xu R, Cui B, Duan X, Zhang P, Zhou X, Yuan Q. Saliva: potential diagnostic value and transmission of 2019-nCoV. Int J Oral Sci. 2020;12(1):11. Review.
⁴ van Doremalen N, Bushmaker T, Morris DH, Holbrook MG, Gamble A, Williamson BN, et al. Aerosol and Surface Stability of SARS-CoV-2 as Compared with SARS-CoV-1. N Engl J Med. 2020;382(16):1564-7.

Associate Editor:
Kenneth Gollob Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, São Paulo, SP, Brazil ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4184-3867

Publication Dates

Publication in this collection
08 Nov 2024
Date of issue
2024

History

Received
24 May 2024
Accepted
24 June 2024

This content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

[1] ¹ Crispim PM, Kawagoe JY, Rosseti AC, Menezes FG. Factors underlying the high occupational risk of healthcare personnel for COVID-19 infection. einstein (São Paulo). 2024;22:eAO0433.

[2] ² Zhang W, Du RH, Li B, Zheng XS, Yang XL, Hu B, et al. Molecular and serological investigation of 2019-nCoV infected patients: implication of multiple shedding routes. Emerg Microbes Infect. 2020;9(1):386-9.

[3] ³ Xu R, Cui B, Duan X, Zhang P, Zhou X, Yuan Q. Saliva: potential diagnostic value and transmission of 2019-nCoV. Int J Oral Sci. 2020;12(1):11. Review.

[4] ⁴ van Doremalen N, Bushmaker T, Morris DH, Holbrook MG, Gamble A, Williamson BN, et al. Aerosol and Surface Stability of SARS-CoV-2 as Compared with SARS-CoV-1. N Engl J Med. 2020;382(16):1564-7.