The bacteria in your gut may play a role in the severity of COVID-19 infection and the strength of your immune system response, a new study suggests.
Not only that, imbalances in the microbiome may cause continued inflammatory symptoms, often called “long-haul” COVID, the researchers added.
“Imbalance in the microbiome contributes to the severity of COVID-19, and if it persists after viral clearance, could contribute to persistent symptoms and multi-system inflammation syndromes like long COVID syndrome,” said lead researcher Dr. Siew Ng, a professor from the Institute of Digestive Disease at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
“Restoration of the missing beneficial bacteria might boost our immunity against SARS-CoV2 virus and hasten recovery from the disease,” she said. “Managing COVID-19 should not only aim at clearing the virus, but also restoring the gut microbiota.”