COVID harms your microbiome and long-term health: study

The findings are consistent with other research linking COVID to changes within the body's microbiome and more severe disease.

Research from the Chinese University of Hong Kong found that gut microbiomes can turn out to be inflamed not only consequently of COVID infection, but additionally remain so after the patient's initial recovery. This signifies that COVID symptoms can persist – or the chance of other diseases might be increased, because the immune system might be compromised by this problem.

This could help explain how lthe COVID develops after infection with the virus. The results are of great importance, the researchers said, as they observed that 76% of patients develop Long COVID. (Long COVID is defined as at the very least one persistent symptom for 4 weeks after the virus has subsided.)

A study from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and Harvard Medical School also found that the “richness” of the protective gut microbiota appears to be reduced in patients with COVID.

“Reduced diversity in the microbiome is often a sign of disease. In healthy people, the usual bacteria in the gut compete for resources, making it difficult for pathogenic bacteria to grow. However, when diversity is lost, people are more susceptible to infections, both in the gut and in the blood.”

LaBaer, ​​who was not involved in the brand new studies, said it shouldn't be yet fully understood how microbiome diversity is lost in COVID. But “there is evidence that the gut lining shows signs similar to inflammatory bowel disease, with shortening of the gut, inflammation and greater permeability,” he said.

Can COVID permanently alter your microbiome?

Because your microbiome is so essential for shielding your body from disease, researchers try to reply this query.

A recent study from the University of Luxembourg found that patients who had no COVID symptoms or only mild to moderate symptoms were at higher risk of bacterial infections. The patients also had a greater variety of genes that cause resistance to antibiotics. The research team is now investigating whether these changes could possibly be everlasting.

“It is very likely that the observed changes in infectivity will last for a long time,” said the lead study writer Paul Wilmes, PhDProfessor of Systems Ecology, Head of the Systems Ecology Group and Deputy Director of the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine on the University of Luxembourg in Esch-sur-Alzette.

Whether you've had COVID-19 or not, the virus is now a part of our lives, so experts say it's idea to make your microbiome as strong as possible.

“In general, to maintain a healthy microbiome, you should eat a varied diet. This means avoiding eating the same thing over and over again,” LaBaer said. “A diet rich in non-highly processed foods, as well as some probiotic foods, also promotes a more diverse gut microbiome.”