Abstract

The impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on the nasopharyngeal microbiome has not been well characterised. We sequenced genetic material extracted from nasopharyngeal swabs of SARS-CoV-2-positive individuals who were asymptomatic (n = 14), had mild (n = 64) or severe symptoms (n = 11), as well as from SARS-CoV-2-negative individuals who had never-been infected (n = 5) or had recovered from infection (n = 7). Using robust filters, we identified 1345 taxa with approximately 0.1% or greater read abundance. Overall, the severe cohort microbiome was least diverse. Bacterial pathogens were found in all cohorts, but fungal species identifications were rare. Few taxa were common between cohorts suggesting a limited human nasopharynx core microbiome. Genes encoding resistance mechanisms to 10 antimicrobial classes (> 25% sequence coverages, 315 genes, 63 non-redundant) were identified, with β-lactam resistance genes near ubiquitous. Patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 (asymptomatic and mild) had a greater incidence of antibiotic resistance genes and a greater microbial burden than the SARS-CoV-2-negative individuals. This should be considered when deciding how to treat COVID-19 related bacterial infections.

Details

Title
A multicentre study reveals dysbiosis in the microbial co-infection and antimicrobial resistance gene profile in the nasopharynx of COVID-19 patients
Author
Mahmud, A. Sayeed. M. 1 ; Seers, Christine A. 2 ; Shaikh, Aftab Ali 1 ; Taznin, Tarannum 3 ; Uzzaman, Mohammad Samir 4 ; Osman, Eshrar 4 ; Habib, Md. Ahashan 1 ; Akter, Shahina 1 ; Banu, Tanjina Akhtar 1 ; Sarkar, Md. Murshed Hasan 1 ; Goswami, Barna 1 ; Jahan, Iffat 1 ; Okeoma, Chioma M. 5 ; Khan, Md. Salim 1 ; Reynolds, Eric C. 2 

 Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh (GRID:grid.466521.2) (ISNI:0000 0001 2034 6517) 
 The University of Melbourne, The Oral Health Cooperative Research Centre, Melbourne Dental School, Bio21 Institute, Parkville, Australia (GRID:grid.1008.9) (ISNI:0000 0001 2179 088X) 
 Jashore University of Science and Technology, Jashore, Bangladesh (GRID:grid.466521.2) 
 SciTech Consulting and Solutions, Dhaka, Bangladesh (GRID:grid.466521.2) 
 New York Medical College, Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, Valhalla, USA (GRID:grid.260917.b) (ISNI:0000 0001 0728 151X) 
Pages
4122
Publication year
2023
Publication date
2023
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2786375392
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2023. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.