COVID

Increased hygiene and sanitation are theorized to predispose to developing atopic diseases, a process potentially mediated by the gut microbiome. We hypothesized that the gut microbiome maturation in the first year of life, a critical period where environmental exposure shapes human microbiome development, has been altered by COVID-19 lockdown measures.

The two large pre- and during-COVID-19 mother-baby dyad cohorts in the Greater Bay Area of China provided the unique opportunity to assess the effect of increased hygiene standards on early gut microbiome maturation.

Our results showed that the gut microbiome diversity, composition, and developmental trajectory were significantly altered between pre- and during-COVID-19 cohorts. Functionally, there was decreased richness in both antimicrobial peptide resistance genes and antibiotic resistance genes in during-COVID cohort.

These insights underscore the importance of considering the microbiome when evaluating hygiene measures and the need for future research to ascertain the role of the gut microbiome in disease development.

This study has been completed. Go to publication.