Oral Bacteria and the Role in COVID-19

Oral Bacteria

The connection between oral bacteria and COVID-19 is becoming clearer. Increasingly, researchers are finding that co-infections impact the clinical outcomes and mortality of patients with COVID-19. Some have called for whole-genome metagenomics to record the data that is relevant to co-infections while studying the bacterial species that make up the oral microbiome.

Poor Hygiene and Microbial Communities

Poor oral hygiene is a significant factor that enables complex microbial communities in the mouth to develop into dysbiosis. Changes in an unhealthy ecosystem promote the increased presence of pathogenic oral bacteria. Everyday activities like chewing food, brushing your teeth, and flossing can actually cause bacteraemia. This facilitates the dissemination of oral bacteria and inflammatory mediators into other areas of your body. In some patients experiencing this phenomena, systemic inflammation may lead to micro-ulcerated sulcular epithelia and damaged periodontal tissues. Thus, these patients become more susceptible to bacteraemia.

During this pandemic, good oral hygiene is absolutely a must for controlling the total bacterial presence in the mouth, maintaining oral symbiotic equilibrium, and preventing the spread of oral bacteria to other areas of the body.

Metagenomic analyses of patients with COVID-19 frequently show high levels or cariogenic and periodontopathic bacteria. This supports the hypothesis of a connection between the oral microbiome and COVID-19 complications. In addition, the evidence suggests that oral bacteria impact the development of respiratory diseases like those associated with COVID-19 and are connected to chronic inflammatory conditions like type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease.

Oral Bacteria Covid-19 Complications

As noted, these conditions represent frequent comorbidities related to the higher risk of severe complications and death from COVID-19. This may explain the role of oral bacteria in the development of respiratory infections by the aspiration of oral bacteria into the lungs. It also points to the increased levels of bacterial adhesion in respiratory epithelium and oral mucosal surfaces, which promotes infections.