Abstract
AimsInfluenza A virus (IAV) can cause severe acute respiratory infection (SARI), and disease outcome may be associated with changes in the microbiome of the nasopharynx. This is a pilot study to characterize the microbiome of the nasopharynx in patients hospitalized with SARI, infected and not infected by IAV.Methods and ResultsUsing target sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene, we assessed the bacterial community of nasopharyngeal aspirate samples and compared the microbiome of patients infected with IAV with the microbiome of patients who were negative for IAV. We observed differences in the relative abundance of Proteobacteria and Firmicutes between SARI patients, with Streptococcus being enriched and Pseudomonas underrepresented in IAV patients compared with patients who were not infected with IAV.Conclusion Pseudomonas taxon seems to be in high frequency on the nasopharynx of SARI patients with non‐IAV infection and might present a negative association with Streptococcus taxon. Microbial profile appears to be different between SARI patients infected or not infected with IAV.
Highlights
Influenza A virus (IAV) infection is among the most common and major causes of human respiratory infection, presenting high morbidity and mortality worldwide, with hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations and deaths every year.[1]
While the influenza‐like symptoms of flu patients are commonly considered as a measure of disease severity, and determine whether the patients suffer from a severe acute respiratory infection (SARI), hospitalization fatality risk during influenza virus infection has been underestimated.[2]
Aiming to better understand the role that the microbiome of the nasopharynx plays during respiratory infection, we conducted this pilot study to determine whether the bacterial community in the upper respiratory tract (URT) of hospitalized patients with SARI has a different profile in cases of IAV infection, compared with other SARI cases
Summary
Influenza A virus (IAV) infection is among the most common and major causes of human respiratory infection, presenting high morbidity and mortality worldwide, with hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations and deaths every year.[1]. While the influenza‐like symptoms of flu patients are commonly considered as a measure of disease severity, and determine whether the patients suffer from a severe acute respiratory infection (SARI), hospitalization fatality risk during influenza virus infection has been underestimated.[2]. Influenza A virus infection, for example, has been shown to modify the community structure of the microbiome[13] and to lead to the outgrowth of pathogenic bacteria.[14]. Aiming to better understand the role that the microbiome of the nasopharynx plays during respiratory infection, we conducted this pilot study to determine whether the bacterial community in the URT of hospitalized patients with SARI has a different profile in cases of IAV infection, compared with other SARI cases
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