1. SARS-CoV-2 does not have a strong effect on the nasopharyngeal microbial composition
- Author
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Efrat Glick Saar, Natahan Keller, Shiraz Halevi, Sharon Amit, Gilate Efroni, Amnon Amir, Yael Haberman, Tzipi Braun, and Rotem Hadar
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,0301 basic medicine ,Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) ,Science ,Disease ,Biology ,Article ,Microbiology ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Nasopharynx ,RNA, Ribosomal, 16S ,medicine ,Humans ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Microbiome ,Respiratory system ,Aged ,Multidisciplinary ,SARS-CoV-2 ,Microbiota ,COVID-19 ,Microbial composition ,Middle Aged ,3. Good health ,030104 developmental biology ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Microbial population biology ,Medicine ,Female ,Viral disease ,Respiratory tract - Abstract
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has rapidly spread around the world, impacting the lives of many individuals. Growing evidence suggests that the nasopharyngeal and respiratory tract microbiome are influenced by various health and disease conditions, including the presence and the severity of different viral disease. To evaluate the potential interactions between Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the nasopharyngeal microbiome. Microbial composition of nasopharyngeal swab samples submitted to the clinical microbiology lab for suspected SARS-CoV-2 infections was assessed using 16S amplicon sequencing. The study included a total of 55 nasopharyngeal samples from 33 subjects, with longitudinal sampling available for 12 out of the 33 subjects. 21 of the 33 subjects had at least one positive COVID-19 PCR results as determined by the clinical microbiology lab. Inter-personal variation was the strongest factor explaining > 75% of the microbial variation, irrespective of the SARS-CoV-2 status. No significant effect of SARS-CoV-2 on the nasopharyngeal microbial community was observed using multiple analysis methods. These results indicate that unlike some other viruses, for which an effect on the microbial composition was noted, SARS-CoV-2 does not have a strong effect on the nasopharynx microbial habitants.
- Published
- 2021