Skip to main content
About the Institute
  • English
  • Français
  • Español
  • Portuguese
  • Polish

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Gynecology
  3. Pregnancy: is vaginal dysbiosis responsible for complications in case of COVID-19?
  • Our publications
    • News
    • Microbiota Mag
    • Thematic folders
    • Overviews - Microbiota Magazine
  • About the Institute
    • Partnerships
    • Press room
  • Congresses
    • Congress calendar
    • Congress reviews
  • Continuing Medical Education
    • Accrediting courses
    • Xpeer App
  • Useful documents
    • Infographics
    About the Institute

    Join the microbiota community

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • LinkedIn
    • YouTube

Lay public section

Find here your dedicated section
Gastroenterology
Gynecology
Pediatrics
Dermatology

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Gynecology
  3. Pregnancy: is vaginal dysbiosis responsible for complications in case of COVID-19?
Gynecology

Pregnancy: is vaginal dysbiosis responsible for complications in case of COVID-19?

Covid-19
Gynecology

Contracting COVID-19 during pregnancy increases the risk of complications, all the more so if the infection is severe. A study highlights the role of vaginal dysbiosis in this relationship.

Gastroenterology
Gynecology
Pediatrics
Dermatology
  • Our publications
    • News
    • Microbiota Mag
    • Thematic folders
    • Overviews - Microbiota Magazine
  • About the Institute
    • Partnerships
    • Press room
  • Congresses
    • Congress calendar
    • Congress reviews
  • Continuing Medical Education
    • Accrediting courses
    • Xpeer App
  • Useful documents
    • Infographics
    About the Institute

    Join the microbiota community

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • LinkedIn
    • YouTube

Lay public section

Find here your dedicated section

Sources

This article is based on scientific information

Sharing is caring

Your colleagues might be interested in this topic. Why not share it?

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
Pregnancy: is vaginal dysbiosis responsible for complications in case of COVID-19?

About this article

Created 06 January 2023
Updated 13 January 2023

Faced with COVID-19, pregnant women present an increased risk of developing a severe form and pregnancy complications, such as preeclampsia or premature birth. Well, the role played by a balanced vaginal microbiota in the optimal progression of pregnancy is known. And what if the harmful effects of COVID-19 in pregnant women required the intervention of the vaginal microbiota?
In order to check this hypothesis, researchers conducted a prospective case-control study including 28 non-infected pregnant women and 19 pregnant women suffering from COVID-19 (13 mild or even asymptomatic cases and 6 moderate to severe cases, including 2 that required the taking of antibiotics and antivirals).

More diversity and fewer lactobacilli among the COVID-19 pregnancies

A sample of the vaginal microbiota was obtained with a swab during the active phase of the disease in the month following recovery and evaluated by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The COVID-19 group displayed significantly greater diversity than the control group. In addition, the Bacteroidetes had gained the upper hand over the Firmicutes, and, at bacterial genus level, the Lactobacillus sp. were significantly less abundant than in the control group. Well, previous studies showed that there was an increased risk of miscarriage or premature birth in pregnant women whose vaginal microbiota were depleted in Lactobacilli. These data corroborate this finding, since 3 women in the COVID-19 group gave birth prematurely (versus 0 in the control group).

Find out more!
Infographics to share with your patients!

Is the severity of COVID-19 related to vaginal dysbiosis?

Despite the small size of the sample, the investigators observed other differences in the composition of the vaginal microbiota in the COVID-19 group. In particular, the women suffering from moderate to severe forms of COVID-19 displayed much higher levels of Ureaplasma spp.: 2.05% vs 0.1% in case of asymptomatic to mild forms. The genus Ureaplasma is involved in different gynecological infections (salpingitis, urethritis, and cervicitis), its over-representation in case of severe COVID-19 also argues in favor of an association of vaginal dysbiosis both with SARS-Cov-2 infection and risks of pregnancy complications. All the more as, in the 3 premature births that occurred in this study, 2 were in the moderate to severe COVID-19 subgroup (n=6).

Thus, although this study does not allow the conclusion that a causal relationship exists, these results suggest that COVID-19 may trigger an unfavorable disruption of the vaginal microenvironment in pregnant women. This would be even more pronounced when the infection is severe, and could lead to an increased risk of complications, such as premature birth.

Sources

Deng H, He L, Wang C, et al. Altered gut microbiota and its metabolites correlate with plasma cytokines in schizophrenia inpatients with aggression. BMC Psychiatry. 2022 Sep 27;22(1):629.

Tags
Pregnancy Covid-19 Dysbiosis Preterm birth Miscarriage Lactobacillus Vagina

en_view en_sources

    See also

    Actu PRO : Covid-19 : le microbiote intestinal impliqué ? Covid-19: gut microbiota involved?
    Miscarriage: Is vaginal dysbiosis a suspect?
    Created 06 January 2023
    Updated 13 January 2023

    About this article

    To know more about this topic.

    Main topic

    Covid-19

    Medical practice

    Gynecology

    Content type

    News
    Gynecology

    From diarrhea to chronic diseases: the well-documented consequences of antibiotic-related gut microbiota dysbiosis

    Antibiotic treatment may sometimes take place without any...

    Find out more

    Vaginal Microbiota # 16

    By Pr. Satu PekkalaAcademy of Finland Research Fellow, Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of ...

    Find out more

    Vaginal microbiota # 14

    By Pr. Markku VoutilainenTurku University Faculty of Medicine; Turku University Hospital, Department of Gas...

    Find out more

    Vaginal Microbiota #15

    By Pr. Markku VoutilainenTurku University Faculty of Medicine; Turku University Hospital, Department of Gas...

    Find out more

    Urinary tract infections

    Infections of the lower urogenital tract are extremely common amongst women: seven out of ten women will su...

    Find out more

    Vaginal microbiota #10

    By Pr. Markku VoutilainenTurku University Faculty of Medicine; Turku University Hospital, Department of Gas...

    Find out more

    Targeting the gut microbiota to optimize vaccine efficacy?

    by Dr Genelle Healey

    Find out more

    The hygiene hypothesis and the COVID-19 pandemic

    by Dr Genelle Healey

    Find out more

    Continue reading

    News
    Photo: WAAW 2022 (HCPs)
    25.10.2022

    Microbiota at the forefront of antibiotic resistance

    Read the article
    25.10.2022

    Antibiotics: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

    Read the article
    Everything you need to know about Microbiota & Dysbiosis
    27.07.2022

    Everything you need to know about Dysbiosis

    Read the article
    Photo: Antibiotic resistance is a web of several problems (HCPs)
    02.11.2022

    Antibiotic resistance is a web of several problems

    Read the article
    Actu PRO : Une antibiothérapie prophylactique péri-partum appauvrit le lait maternel en Bifidobacterium
    12.03.2019

    Peripartum prophylactic antibiotic therapy decreases bifidobacterium levels in breast milk

    Read the article
    28.10.2021

    6 things you should know about antibiotics

    Read the article
    28.10.2021

    Antimicrobial resistance: a global threat, an international response

    Read the article
    De la dysbiose intestinale à l’infection urinaire
    22.07.2022

    From gut dysbiosis to urinary tract infection

    Read the article
    What's worth reading about microbiota
    Follow us on Twitter
    Read our thematic folder
    The Janus face of Antibiotics: Life Savers & Microbiota Disrupters
    NL13_cover
    Check out latest newsletter
    IBS, Microbiota & Covid-19
    • Our publications
      • News
      • Microbiota Mag
      • Thematic folders
      • Overviews - Microbiota Magazine
    • About the Institute
      • Partnerships
      • Press room
    • Congresses
      • Congress calendar
      • Congress reviews
    • Continuing Medical Education
      • Accrediting courses
      • Xpeer App
    • Useful documents
      • Infographics
      About the Institute

      Join the microbiota community

      • Facebook
      • Twitter
      • LinkedIn
      • YouTube

    Lay public section

    Find here your dedicated section
    Gastroenterology
    Gynecology
    Pediatrics
    Dermatology
    • English
    • Français
    • Español
    • Portuguese
    • Polish

    Browse the site

    • Our publications
      • News
      • Microbiota Mag
      • Thematic folders
      • Overviews - Microbiota Magazine
    • About the Institute
      • Partnerships
      • Press room
    • Congresses
      • Congress calendar
      • Congress reviews
    • Continuing Medical Education
      • Accrediting courses
      • Xpeer App
    • Useful documents
      • Infographics
      About the Institute

      Join the microbiota community

      • Facebook
      • Twitter
      • LinkedIn
      • YouTube

    Lay public section

    Find here your dedicated section

    Discover

    Gastroenterology
    Gynecology
    Pediatrics
    Dermatology

    Join the microbiota community

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • LinkedIn
    • YouTube

    Lay public section

    Find here your dedicated section

    Redirection

    You are about to be redirected and leave our website

    • Be redirected
    • Stay on the Biocodex Microbiota Institute's website

    Stay with us !

    Join the Microbiota Community of HCPs and researchers and receive “Microbiota Digest” and "Microbiota Mag" to stay up to date on the latest news about microbiota.

    * Mandatory Fields

    BMI 20-35

    Explore

    30.01.2023

    Schizophrenia and aggressive behavior: what involvement of the intestinal microbiota?

    Read the article
    23.01.2023

    Idiopathic urethritis in men: new infectious etiologies?

    Read the article

    Impact of beer and non alcoholic comsumption on the gut microbiota

    By Pr. Bernd SchnablDivision of Gastroenterology, San Diego Digestive Diseases Research Center (SDDRC), UC ...

    Find out more

    Stay updated

    Join the Microbiota Community of HCPs and researchers and receive “Microbiota Digest” and "Microbiota Mag" to stay up to date on the latest news about microbiota.

    * Mandatory Fields

    BMI 20-35

    • Our publications
      • News
      • Microbiota Mag
      • Thematic folders
      • Overviews - Microbiota Magazine
    • About the Institute
      • Partnerships
      • Press room
    • Congresses
      • Congress calendar
      • Congress reviews
    • Continuing Medical Education
      • Accrediting courses
      • Xpeer App
    • Useful documents
      • Infographics
      About the Institute

      Join the microbiota community

      • Facebook
      • Twitter
      • LinkedIn
      • YouTube

    Lay public section

    Find here your dedicated section

    Discover

    Gastroenterology
    Gynecology
    Pediatrics
    Dermatology

    Lay public section

    Find here your dedicated section

    Join the microbiota community

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • LinkedIn
    • YouTube

    © 2022 Biocodex. All rights reserved.

    • Cookies Policy
    • Data protection policy
    • GTU
    • Sitemap
    • Cookies settings
    Biocodex logo