SARS‐CoV‐2 Presence in the Saliva, Tears, and Cerumen of COVID‐19 Patients

Objectives/Hypothesis The emergence of a new coronavirus strain (SARS‐CoV‐2) in December 2019 from China led to a global pandemic. The lack of herd immunity against this virus and the possibility of viral spread from asymptomatic individuals is still a major challenge for the prevention of viral transmission. The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of the virus in different bodily secretions as a potential source of viral spread among patients infected with SARS‐CoV‐2. Study Design Cross Sectional Study. Methods The study included 38 COVID‐19 patients with a positive real‐time polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) test result for SARS‐CoV‐2, obtained from the combined nasopharyngeal–oropharyngeal swab samples. Saliva, tear, and cerumen samples were taken from the patients within 72 hours of the first RT‐PCR test. SARS‐CoV‐2 N1 and N2 gene regions were studied with single‐step RT‐PCR in all samples. Results Among the studied samples, the highest positivity rate was in saliva (76.3%) followed by tears (55.3%) and cerumen (39.5%). Viral load in saliva was also significantly higher compared to tears and cerumen (P