Travel pass: Pros may outweigh cons
IATA’s mobile application will allow travellers to store and manage certifications for Covid-19 tests or ...
A new study has revealed that the variety and volume of bacteria in the gut, known as the microbiome, drives the severity of Covid-19 as well as the magnitude of the immune system response to the infection.
The study, published online in the journal Gut, suggested that imbalances in the make-up of the microbiome may also be implicated in persisting inflammatory symptoms, dubbed ‘long Covid’.
Also read: Low breathing rate increases chances of virus depositing in lungs: IIT Madras
As the gut is the largest immunological organ in the body, so, even when Covid-19 is primarily a respiratory disease, the gut seems to play a significant role in deciding the severity of it.
For the study, the researchers obtained blood and stool samples and medical records from 100 hospitals of patients with laboratory-confirmed Covid-19 infection between February and May 2020. They also took samples from 78 people without Covid-19 who were taking part in a microbiome study before the pandemic.
The severity of Covid-19 was classified as mild in the absence of x-ray evidence of pneumonia; moderate if pneumonia with fever and respiratory tract symptoms were detected; severe if patients found it very difficult to breathe normally; and critical if they needed mechanical ventilation or experienced organ failure requiring intensive care.
To characterise the gut microbiome, 41 of the Covid-19 patients provided multiple stool samples while in hospital, 27 of whom provided serial stool samples up to 30 days after clearance of SARS-CoV-2.
Analysis of all 274 stool samples showed that the make-up of the gut microbiome differed significantly from patient to patient with and without Covid-19, irrespective of whether they had been treated with drugs, including antibiotics.
Analysis of the blood samples showed that the microbial imbalance found in Covid-19 patients was also associated with raised levels of inflammatory cytokines.
Also read: Bhopal activists demand probe into Covaxin trials incident
This suggests that the gut microbiome might influence the immune system response to Covid-19 infection and potentially affect disease severity and outcome, the researchers maintained.
The authors wrote in the study: “In light of reports that a subset of recovered patients with Covid-19 experience persistent symptoms, such as fatigue, dyspnoea (breathlessness) and joint pains, some over 80 days after the initial onset of symptoms, we posit that the dysbiotic gut microbiome could contribute to immune-related health problems post-Covid-19.”
“Bolstering of beneficial gut species depleted in Covid-19 could serve as a novel avenue to mitigate severe disease, underscoring the importance of managing patients’ gut microbiota during and after Covid-19,” they concluded.
IATA’s mobile application will allow travellers to store and manage certifications for Covid-19 tests or ...
A 2010 Act to regulate the medical sector flounders in implementation, even as healthcare remains ...
The scheme to boost local medtech manufacturing is timely, especially given the raging pandemic. But ...
Do pilots sleep on their job?
Fiscal stimulus, friendly monetary policy and firm commodity prices point towards normalcy, says the MD and ...
Price correction is a good opportunity for long-term investors to take the plunge
Q4 earnings, along with progress in controlling Covid-19 spread, will be in focus
Do keep in mind that premium may go up in case one of the members has a pre-existing condition
Inside Narayan Chandra Sinha’s universe house, metal and nature’s footprints are churned into an organic whole
A former resident relives sepia-tinted memories of growing up in a hilly, colonial tea range of the Western ...
It starts with the lack of new email messages: A sudden silence from my personal world. It’s a mellow Saturday ...
Love for food sparks an unusual friendship between a visitor and an auto driver in Hyderabad’s colourful lanes
Monotype’s 2021 type trends report points to a return to hand and the familiar
As ‘ear-points’ between a company and a customer grow, we are witnessing a rise in audio assets
‘Desi Twitter challenger’ Koo on connecting like-minded folks
Coca-Cola has just introduced an oat milk line in the US under its Simply brand. Smart move, say industry ...
Three years after its inception, compliance with GST procedures remains a headache for exporters, job workers ...
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives of companies are altering the prospects for wooden toys of ...
Aequs Aerospace to create space for large-scale manufacture of toys at Koppal
And it has every reason to smile. Covid-19 has triggered a consumer shift towards branded products as ...
Please Email the Editor