The hygiene hypothesis, the COVID pandemic, and consequences for the human microbiome
B. Brett Finlay
(1)
,
Katherine Amato
(2)
,
Meghan Azad
(3, 4)
,
Martin Blaser
(5, 6)
,
Thomas Bosch
(7)
,
Hiutung Chu
(8, 9)
,
Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello
(8, 10)
,
Stanislav Dusko Ehrlich
(11, 12)
,
Eran Elinav
(13, 8, 14)
,
Naama Geva-Zatorsky
(8, 15)
,
Philippe Gros
,
Karen Guillemin
(8, 16)
,
Frédéric Keck
,
Tal Korem
(8, 17)
,
Margaret Mcfall-Ngai
(18, 19)
,
Melissa Melby
,
Mark Nichter
(8, 20)
,
Sven Pettersson
(8, 21)
,
Hendrik Poinar
(22)
,
Tobias Rees
(8, 23)
,
Carolina Tropini
,
Liping Zhao
,
Tamara Giles-Vernick
1
UBC -
University of British Columbia
2 Northwestern University [Evanston]
3 Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba [Winnipeg, Canada]
4 University of Manitoba [Winnipeg]
5 WINLAB Rutgers University
6 New York University School of Medicine
7 Chercheur indépendant
8 CIFAR - Canadian Institute for Advanced Research
9 UC San Diego - University of California [San Diego]
10 RU - Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey [New Brunswick]
11 MGP (US 1367) - MetaGenoPolis
12 King‘s College London
13 Weizmann Institute of Science [Rehovot, Israël]
14 DKFZ - German Cancer Research Center - Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum [Heidelberg]
15 Technion - Israel Institute of Technology [Haifa]
16 University of Oregon [Eugene]
17 Columbia University [New York]
18 University of Wisconsin-Madison
19 UHM - University of Hawai‘i [Mānoa]
20 University of Arizona
21 Nanyang Technological University [Singapour]
22 McMaster Ancient DNA Center [Hamilton, Ontario]
23 Berggruen Institute [Los Angeles, California]
2 Northwestern University [Evanston]
3 Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba [Winnipeg, Canada]
4 University of Manitoba [Winnipeg]
5 WINLAB Rutgers University
6 New York University School of Medicine
7 Chercheur indépendant
8 CIFAR - Canadian Institute for Advanced Research
9 UC San Diego - University of California [San Diego]
10 RU - Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey [New Brunswick]
11 MGP (US 1367) - MetaGenoPolis
12 King‘s College London
13 Weizmann Institute of Science [Rehovot, Israël]
14 DKFZ - German Cancer Research Center - Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum [Heidelberg]
15 Technion - Israel Institute of Technology [Haifa]
16 University of Oregon [Eugene]
17 Columbia University [New York]
18 University of Wisconsin-Madison
19 UHM - University of Hawai‘i [Mānoa]
20 University of Arizona
21 Nanyang Technological University [Singapour]
22 McMaster Ancient DNA Center [Hamilton, Ontario]
23 Berggruen Institute [Los Angeles, California]
Katherine Amato
- Fonction : Auteur
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- ORCID : 0000-0003-2722-9414
Meghan Azad
- Fonction : Auteur
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- ORCID : 0000-0002-5942-4444
Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello
- Fonction : Auteur
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- ORCID : 0000-0002-8879-6159
Naama Geva-Zatorsky
- Fonction : Auteur
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- ORCID : 0000-0002-7303-854X
Philippe Gros
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 1202007
- ORCID : 0000-0002-0114-1978
Karen Guillemin
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 1202008
- ORCID : 0000-0001-6004-9955
Frédéric Keck
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 13829
- IdHAL : frederic-keck
- ORCID : 0000-0002-7711-7288
- IdRef : 053493966
Tal Korem
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 1202009
- ORCID : 0000-0002-0609-0858
Margaret Mcfall-Ngai
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 1202010
- ORCID : 0000-0002-6046-6238
Melissa Melby
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 1202011
- ORCID : 0000-0003-1766-5466
Sven Pettersson
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 1202012
- ORCID : 0000-0001-8903-3738
Hendrik Poinar
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 1177084
- ORCID : 0000-0002-0314-4160
Tobias Rees
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 1202013
- ORCID : 0000-0002-8273-7393
Carolina Tropini
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 1202014
- ORCID : 0000-0002-7542-1577
Liping Zhao
- Fonction : Auteur
Tamara Giles-Vernick
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 1183711
- IdHAL : tamara-giles-vernick
- ORCID : 0000-0003-2873-8544
Résumé
The COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to affect the human microbiome in infected and uninfected individuals, having a substantial impact on human health over the long term. This pandemic intersects with a decades-long decline in microbial diversity and ancestral microbes due to hygiene, antibiotics, and urban living (the hygiene hypothesis). High-risk groups succumbing to COVID-19 include those with preexisting conditions, such as diabetes and obesity, which are also associated with microbiome abnormalities. Current pandemic control measures and practices will have broad, uneven, and potentially long-term effects for the human microbiome across the planet, given the implementation of physical separation, extensive hygiene, travel barriers, and other measures that influence overall microbial loss and inability for reinoculation. Although much remains uncertain or unknown about the virus and its consequences, implementing pandemic control practices could significantly affect the microbiome. In this Perspective, we explore many facets of COVID-19−induced societal changes and their possible effects on the microbiome, and discuss current and future challenges regarding the interplay between this pandemic and the microbiome. Recent recognition of the microbiome’s influence on human health makes it critical to consider both how the microbiome, shaped by biosocial processes, affects susceptibility to the coronavirus and, conversely, how COVID-19 disease and prevention measures may affect the microbiome. This knowledge may prove key in prevention and treatment, and long-term biological and social outcomes of this pandemic.