Thread by @white_bite

There's a concerning study about #Covid and kids that just came out. But before that, something to further explain immunity in the mouth....

The tonsils are always mentioned whenever there's an infection in the oral cavity or the upper respiratory tract.
The tonsils, when not inflamed, are usually seen at the sides of that hanging thingy that you see called the "uvula". There's one on the right and one on the left...

The palatine tonsils are special since they are made up of lymphoid tissue and are part of a specialized type of immune tissues known as the MALTs (Mucosa Associated Lymphoid Tissue). Uhhh...nope. Not that. 👇...

MALTs are special because they have a collection of different kinds of immune cells -- T & B cells and macrophages--all ready to catch those invaders.
MALTs in the oral cavity can be seen not only in the tonsils, but also in the salivary glands.
So try to imagine these...

invaders entering the 👄 immediately being met by these special structures. There's more to your mouth than your smile. 😁...

A recently released preprint though has shown results that are quite concerning. In this preprint, it as shown that #COVID19 can infect the tonsils of children... H/T @ejustin46 medrxiv.org/content/10.110…

The study shows children who haven't had any known previous exposure to Covid but who were positive for the virus. Alternatively, there were children who were negative to the virus, but with known previous exposure.
Immune cells -- B&T cells and macrophages-- in the...

tonsils were infected by Covid. This means lessened immunity against future infection.
Infected tonsils also showed increased levels of both ACE2 & TMPRSS2. Please bear in mind that this makes it easier for these children to get reinfected since this makes it easier...

for the virus to attach to the body.
Other proteins of Covid, known as structural proteins, were isolated. This means ongoing viral activity in the area as well as viral persistence. Yes. These children have yet to clear the virus from their bodies...

Aside from the tonsils, samples were also seen in the nose.
It is also important to take note that there were different variants isolated in different children. This most probably means that all variants are capable of affecting the tonsils.
Lastly, the immunoglobulin ...

seen in these children was IgG. This simply means that the infection was no longer at an acute phase. Yes, they've probably been infected and were still infected by the virus.
Can they infect others at this stage? YES. They are asymptomatic carriers....

This is an important study since this shows that viral persistence happens in children, despite their capacity to create a more robust immune response. This should explain why #LongCovid happens too in kids. #LongCovidKids ...

With symptoms ranging from mood swings, to cognitive dysfunction, to heart disease...
nature.com/articles/s4159…

The study mentioned does not define how long the children have had Covid. No study has been released that shows whether or not children with long covid can fully recover. Covid isn't mild in kids. Reinfections happen which make this virus all the more dangerous.

@mrsunlawyer @peachybrets @JoshuaCAgar @RobbieMeriales
@iamguidodavid

Need to add this too! (Thanks for this @ToshiAkima !)

https://twitter.com/ToshiAkima/status/1618570292640780289?t=EOQ5YAeCbj3uEM0g45Pc4w&s=19