摘要
Children are less susceptible to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and they have manifested lower morbidity and mortality after infection, for which a multitude of mechanisms may be considered. Whether the normal development of the gut-airway microbiome in children is affected by COVID-19 has not been evaluated. Here, we demonstrate that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)infection alters the upper respiratory tract and the gut microbiomes in nine children. The alteration of the microbiome is dominated by the genus Pseudomonas, and it sustains for up to 25e58 days in different individuals. Moreover, the patterns of alternation are different between the upper respiratory tract and the gut. Longitudinal investigation shows that the upper respiratory tract and the gut microbiomes are extremely variable among children during the course of COVID-19. The dysbiosis of microbiome persists in7 of 8 children for at least 19e24 days after discharge from the hospital. Disturbed development of both the gut and the upper respiratory microbiomes and prolonged dysbiosis in these nine children imply possible long-term complications after clinical recovery from COVID-19, such as predisposition to the increased health risk in the post-COVID-19 era.
基金
supported by the grants from the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFC2000500 and 2017ZX10103009002)
Major Science and Technology Project in Yunnan Province of China (202001BB050001)
the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research (STEP) program (2019QZKK0503)
the Key Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (FZDSW219)
the Chinese National Natural Science Foundation of China (31970571)
grants specific for coronavirus disease 2019 from the Children’s Hospital of Fudan University (EKXGZX006)。