Severe COVID-19 Is Associated With an Altered Upper Respiratory Tract Microbiome.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The upper respiratory tract (URT) is the portal of entry of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and SARS-CoV-2 likely interacts with the URT microbiome. However, understanding of the associations between the URT microbiome and the severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is still limited.

Objective

Our primary objective was to identify URT microbiome signature/s that consistently changed over a spectrum of COVID-19 severity.

Methods

Using data from 103 adult participants from two cities in the United States, we compared the bacterial load and the URT microbiome between five groups: 20 asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2-negative participants, 27 participants with mild COVID-19, 28 participants with moderate COVID-19, 15 hospitalized pat

SUBMITTER: Shilts MH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8819187 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature