Gut Microbiome Alters After COVID-19 Infection

COVID-19 infection reduces the diversity of bacterial species in the gut. This can further endanger the patient's health.

Highlights:

An unhealthy gut increases an individual’s susceptibility to various diseases
The gut microbiome diversity is disrupted by the COVID-19 virus, increasing the risk of other infections

A person’s lungs are known to be affected by COVID-19. It can have long-lasting consequences on the brain. Currently, doctors believe that COVID-19 can impair your health in yet another way- through your stomach.

According to a recent study published in the journal Nature Communications, a COVID-19 infection can lower the diversity of bacterial species in the gut, allowing hazardous antibiotic-resistant bacteria to flourish.

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Infection with COVID-19 decreases the variety of bacterial species in the stomach, putting patients at even greater risk.

“Our findings suggest that coronavirus infection directly interferes with the healthy balance of microbes in the gut, further endangering patients in the process,” said study co-senior author Ken Cadwell, a microbiologist at NYU Grossman School of Medicine in New York City.

A person who has an unhealthy gut is more susceptible to C. difficile, a dangerous bacterium that can cause life-threatening diarrhea. Additionally, it may result in other health issues like bloating and acid reflux.

According to experts, the study is the first to demonstrate that COVID-19 alone harms the gut flora. Doctors had previously suspected that the gut bacteria had been harmed by the use of antibiotics to treat COVID-19.

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The majority of COVID-19 patients showed poor gut microbiome diversity, according to an analysis of over 100 men and women hospitalized with the disease in 2020. The researchers discovered that a single strain of bacteria dominated the guts of a full quarter of the animals.

Populations of several potentially dangerous bacteria grew concurrently. 20% of patients had some antibiotic-resistant germs that had entered their circulation.

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“Now that we have uncovered the source of this bacterial imbalance, physicians can better identify those coronavirus patients most at risk of a secondary bloodstream infection,” Cadwell said

Source-Medindia

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