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To this point, scientists and health experts reassured the public that it is very unlikely to contract the virus that causes Covid-19through food or drinks. Now, research suggests that some people can have ahigher risk of becoming infected by the new coronavirus after swallowing something that is contaminated.

A new study set at the beginnings in the newspaperGastroenterologyThis spring suggests that people with a common disorder called Barrett's esophagus, a complication of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GERD), could potentially contract the virus through the food. (In touch:Vitamin doctors exhort everyone to take right now.)

"There is no evidence that Barrett's esophagus people have higher rates of CVIV-19 or are at higher risk, but some of the reason is because it has not been studied" Jason C. Mills, MD, Doctorate of the University of Medicine at the University of Washington in Saint-Louis and the main investigator of the study, said in adeclaration. "Now that we have connected these points, it may be helpful to look and see if people with Barrett have higher infection rates."

In some people, the development of Barrett's esophagus may precede adenocarcinoma, which is a type of cancer formed in the lower esophagus. In recent years, adenocarcinoma levels have increased, especially among white men, according to theOregon Clinic.

How could someone with Barrett's esophagus contract the new coronavirus through the food?

In a healthy person, it is thought that even if food and beverages contain viral particles from Sars-Cov-2 (the virus that causes Covid-19 infectious disease), gastric acid neutralize them quickly. However, people with gastric reflux may suffer long-term damage to esophagus because stomach acid is recovering regularly.About one in five people have a reflux disease, which causes symptoms such asstomach pains.

Over time, as well as some people with GERD, esophagus cells can change and start resembling intestinal cells. Here's where the infection gateway can come into play: intestinal cellsHave receivers capable of binding to the coronavirus novel, who brought researchers to believe that the cells that lick the esophagus in people with Barrett could also develop these receptors.

As eating or drinking something that has been contaminated by active viral particles, the receivers could, in theory, bind to the virus and infect the person.

"You can imagine that if someone already has low levels of viruses in their respiratory tract, that the individual could swallow respiratory secretions and the virus could infect the cells of the esophagus to make them sick in this way", Ramon U. Jin, MD, PhD, the co-first author of the document and a clinical boy of the Medical Oncology Division who studies the esophagus of Barrett, said in a press release.

What did this study reveal?

The researchers analyzed the tissues of 30 patients with Barrett's esophagus. What did they find? Each fabric sample had receptors for the SARS-COV-2 virus,Something that normal esophagus cells are missing.

Scientists then constructed mini esophagus organs using these tissue samples and others in dishes, with cells from healthy people and those with Barrett's esophagus. Of course, the virus could bind these receptors and infect the mini-organs made from the fabric and cells of someone with the disease.

How is the connection between Barrett's esophagus and Covid-19?

Jeffrey Wade Brown, MD, doctoral student-a medical instructor of the gastroenterology division, and the other co-first author of the study - explains that he and his colleagues from the Mills laboratory at the school of The medicine at the University of Washington studies cells' identity changes after an injury. These changes are often called metaplasia among the scientific community, and they also tend to mean cancer precursors.

Other researchers from the university had already found that the intestinal cells isolated in a dish were susceptible to infection with SARS-COV-2. This prompted Brown and his colleagues to wonder if the intestinal cells (which result from metaplasia) in those who suffer from Barrett's esophagus would then make more sensitive to infection to these patients.

"The biggest take away from our work is that we have potentially identified people, those with Barrett's esophagus, which could be more likely to infection by SARS-COV-2 because they could be affected by swallowing of the virus - not only the breathing: "Brown saysEat this, not that!

"Future studies using data from major patient populations will be needed to confirm our suspicion that Barrett's esophagus patients are higher for the development of the disease or to have a more serious illness than the population in general."

For more, be sure to check This unexpected vitamin can help weaken the symptoms of COVID .