How sick can a COVID-19 infection make you? Study says your nose can tell

New York: The microbiota in the nose and upper throat likely contains biomarkers to assess how much an individual infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, can fall, suggests a study that could help develop new treatment strategies for infectious disease. This nasopharyngeal microbiota is generally considered a first-line protection against viruses, bacteria and other pathogens that enter these natural passages, said Sadanand Fulzele, a geriatric researcher in the Department of Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia at the University of Georgia. ‘Augusta. The study, detailed in the journal Diagnostics, shows a “strong association” between nasal microbiota, SARS-CoV-2 infection and severity. Between the asymptomatic and the symptomatic, the researchers found a big difference in the volume of microbiota diversity.

The team examined the microbiota of 27 individuals aged 49 to 78 who were negative for the virus, 30 who were positive but had no symptoms, and 27 who were positive with moderate symptoms that did not require hospitalization. They saw “low readings” of bacteria in the nasopharyngeal cavity of symptomatic individuals versus only two and four individuals in the negative and positive groups without symptoms, respectively. The vast majority of positive individuals without symptoms still had sufficient microbiota.

“Millions of people are infected and relatively few of them become symptomatic. This could be one of the reasons,” said Ravindra Kolhe, director of MCG’s Georgia Esoteric and Molecular Laboratory, or GEM Lab.

Fulzele explained that runny noses and sneezing could explain the loss. Already significantly fewer bacterial inhabitants could have increased individuals’ risk of developing these types of symptoms, or the virus may have changed the landscape, Fulzele said. In addition, the study also indicated that the altered microbiota in symptomatic patients impacted their immune response to the virus.

Symptomatic individuals had significantly higher levels of two bacterial species, including Cutibacterium, commonly found on the skin and associated with acne but also heart infections and shoulder infections following surgery. Conversely, there was a significantly lower presence of a handful of other unstudied bacteria. The microbiota from both infected groups, symptomatic and asymptomatic, exhibited high levels of bacteria like cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, which can be found in contaminated water but is a habitual inhabitant of the microbiome in humans. man who appears to have a role in regulating the immune response. This bacteria usually enters the body through mucous surfaces, such as those on the nose, and is known to cause pneumonia and liver damage. Those who were symptomatic had twice as much of this bacteria as their asymptomatic counterparts.