Hong Kong Med J 2025;31(Suppl 4):S34-6
Gut microbiota in the pathogenesis of COVID-19: viral replication and transmission (abridged secondary publication)
SC Ng, FKL Chan, PKS Chan, GCY Lui, JWY Mak, T Zuo, Q Liu, F Zhang
Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
 
 
  1. Prolonged and active SARS-CoV-2 virus remained in the gut of patients with COVID-19, even after recovery.
  2. Both gut bacterial and viral microbiota were disrupted in patients with COVID-19, persisting for up to 6 months after disease resolution.
  3. Several gut commensal bacteria with known immunomodulatory potential–Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Eubacterium rectale, and Bifidobacteria–and two RNA virus species derived from pepper plants were underrepresented in these patients.
  4. Depletion of these bacterial and viral taxa was associated with more severe disease and higher levels of inflammatory cytokines and blood markers.