Illustration of a nose. - akyurt machine

Why is the new coronavirus so contagious? An international consortium of researchers, including those from the Nice University Hospital, probably found the answer in the patients' noses. "Two types of nasal cells have been identified as probable initial points of infection" and that "could help explain the high transmission rate" of the virus, said the University of Côte d'Azur on Thursday.

2 types of nasal cells have been identified as probable initial infection points for the new coronavirus which causes # COVID19 by the teams of @pbarbry from @ uca_research and Sylvie Leroy from @CHUdeNice ➡️ https://t.co / jzAsSiSnS7.

- Côte d'Azur University #Research (@uca_research) April 23, 2020

The discovery, published in the journal Nature Medicine, has highlighted "goblet cells and multiciliated nose", which express "high levels of input proteins that SARS-CoV-2 uses to enter our cells "

Also in the eye and in the intestine

Identifying these entry points “helps us to think about the reasons why a virus can be easily transmitted between people,” points out Dr. Sylvie Leroy. "This initial work allows researchers to be directed to the right cells and tissues to study," says the specialist, pulmonologist at the CHU in Nice.

ACE2 and TMPRSS2, the proteins involved, have also been found in cells in the cornea and intestine, suggesting other possible routes of infection, the university said.

Our file on the Covid-19

Researchers from the Sanger Institute in the United Kingdom, the University Medical Center in Groningen, the Netherlands, and the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology in Sophia-Antipolis were also mobilized as part of the Human Cell consortium Atlas (HCA) whose objective is to provide an atlas of the cells of the human body.

Coronavirus

Please note, this deconfinement map of France is not official

Nice

Faced with a “lull” in the number of Covid-19 cases, the CHU will “reorganize its care offer”

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