Alterations in microbiota of patients with COVID-19

There are tenfold more bacterial cells in the human microbiota than there are human tissue cells and there are 100-fold more bacterial than human genes. These bacteria inhabit all surfaces of the human body including the gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts.

A population-based study conducted in China showed that viral RNA was detected in the stool samples of ≤53% of all COVID-19 patients.
11–39% of all COVID-19 patients have gastrointestinal symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain.
A recent study demonstrated a link between respiratory microbiota and COVID-19 disease severity.
Compared with the gut microbiomes of healthy persons, those of patients with COVID-19 had low abundances of the anti-inflammatory bacteria Lachnospiraceae, Roseburia, Eubacterium, and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii. The feces of COVID-19 patients were enriched in opportunistic pathogens known to cause bacteremia such as Clostridium hathewayi, Enterobacteriaceae, Enterococcus, Actinomyces viscosus, and Bacteroides nordii. Gut dysbiosis persists even after clearance of SARS-CoV-2 infection or recovery from it.
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