People with problems in upper GI tract may be vulnerable to COVID-19 infection: study

CHICAGO, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- New research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that people with problems in the upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract may be vulnerable to COVID-19 infection after swallowing the virus.

In the study, the researchers analyzed tissue from 30 patients with Barrett's esophagus and found that cells in the tissue samples all had receptors for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which normal esophagus cells lack. They built and cultured mini organs from those and other esophagus tissue samples. Some of the sample organs were built with cells that came from healthy people while others came from patients with Barrett's esophagus.