“Long COVID-19” or “Sequelae of COVID-19” refers to symptoms that persist for more than 12 weeks following recovery from COVID-19 patients, such as fatigue and poor memory. The Chinese University of Hong Kong School of Medicine announced today (26th) a new study that found that more than 75% of patients with new coronary pneumonia developed “long new crown”, and confirmed that the intestinal bacteria of related patients were imbalanced. Chen Jialiang, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of CUHK and Director of the Center for Intestinal Microbiome Research, said that the results of the study can promote the recovery of patients and reduce the sequelae of COVID-19.
The study pointed out that 76% of new crown patients developed at least one symptom within 6 months of recovery. The most common symptoms included 31% fatigue and 28% poor memory; hair loss, anxiety and sleep difficulties were also 21%.
The study found that the imbalance of intestinal microecology is the main cause of “long new crown”. The intestinal microecology of patients with “long new crown” is abnormal, with significantly fewer “good bacteria” and more “bad bacteria”. In contrast, people without sequelae had a richer and more diverse gut microbiome, similar to those who had never been infected. The team also found that the age, gender, other diseases, the use of antibiotics and antiviral drugs, and the severity of infection with the new coronary pneumonia were no different between the “long new crown” patients and those without sequelae.
The research team of the Faculty of Medicine of CUHK added that as many as 81 types of intestinal bacteria are associated with various sequelae of COVID-19, and many of them are closely related to three or more persistent symptoms. In addition, it was found that several intestinal bacteria that can improve human immunity are missing in the intestines of “long new crown” patients, including Bifidobacterium adolescentis, Bifidobacterium longum and Bifidobacterium pseudominis.
Professor Chen Jialiang, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of CUHK and Director of the Center for Gut Microbiota Research, said that the results of the study show that the gut microbiome of patients with COVID-19 can predict the risk of sequelae. Millions of people around the world are infected with Covid-19, and this study shows that regulating the bacteria in the gut can promote recovery and reduce the sequelae of Covid-19.