The Severity Of A Cold Depends On Who Lives In Our Nose

The severity of a cold depends on who lives in our nose

From what bacteria live in a person's nose, it depends on how hard he has colds viral diseases. The results of a study by American scientists are published in Nature Scientific Reports."

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From what bacteria live in a person's nose, it depends on how hard he has colds viral diseases. The results of a study by American scientists are published in Nature Scientific Reports."

According to the observations of researchers, if staphylococci prevail among the microflora in the nose, then the cold is more severe, and if there are fewer of them, it is easier. We are talking about acute respiratory viral infections (ARVI), which are caused by the same strain of viruses.

The researchers found that the bacterial composition of the microbiomes of the study participants can be divided into six types. Different forms have been associated with differences in the severity of cold symptoms. It was found that the composition of bacteria also correlates with viral load - the amount of cold virus in the body.

The discovery surprised even the researchers themselves. "The first surprise was that you can identify different 'bouquets' of bacteria, and then you can see that these 'bouquets' affect how a person responds to the virus," says Ronald B. Turner of Medical School of the University of Virginia (University of Virginia School of Medicine).

Nasal microorganisms by themselves do not cause SARS, it is caused by a virus. Researchers cannot yet say for sure whether microorganisms in the nose are really responsible for the differences in the severity of cold symptoms. This is very likely, but more research is needed to get an accurate answer.

“We are only talking about a connection, so it is possible that such facts, the presence of staphylococci in the nose and the severity of cold symptoms, are not directly related. Maybe it is based on some other factor that affects both the number of staphylococci in the nose and the tendency to catch colds,”says Turner.

For example, according to Turner, in both cases, our genes or environmental factors may be responsible. Scientists examined the nasal microbiomes of 152 study participants before and after infection with the common cold virus, eliminating the possibility that the virus or illness had significantly altered the composition of the microbiome.

Turner and his colleagues also tried to find out if probiotics - good bacteria - can relieve cold symptoms or affect the composition of the nasal microbiome. As it turned out, they cannot. The study participants were given probiotics to drink, but this did not affect the microbiomes in the nose and did not significantly affect the microbiomes of the stomach.

It is possible that administering the probiotic directly to the nose, for example by means of a spray, may enhance its effect. But Turner, who has been studying the common cold for decades, is skeptical that probiotics can have significant effects.