Norovirus from the mouths of babes
The finding that intestinal viruses can spread from mouse pups to their mothers in saliva during breastfeeding uncovers previously unknown viral replication sites and ways of viral transmission.
More than 300 million kid infections worldwide each year are brought on by intestinal viruses including norovirus and rotavirus1.
Abdominal discomfort, diarrhoea, and vomiting are just a few of the unpleasant symptoms that can be brought on by these infections
. The faecal-oral pathway, in which a person consumes minute particles of stool or vomit that have either directly come from an infected
person or have contaminated food and water, is thought to be the main way they are transmitted.
Ghosh et al.2 give intriguing evidence of salivary infection routes for gastrointestinal viruses in their article published in Nature
, suggesting that strategies to stop the spread of viruses may call for improved cleanliness practises.