Coronavirus: Hong Kong’s Chinese University researchers craft supplement to help balance body’s bacteria amid Covid-19 battle

Team moved forward with project after discovering many recovering patients had microbe imbalance in intestines

‘Good bacteria are supposed to help with immunity, so we think the missing bacteria make [patients] more susceptible to infection,’ researcher says

Reading Time:3 minutes

Chinese University’s Francis Chan speaks at a Thursday press conference where his team unveiled a new probiotic formula designed to help balance the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ bacteria found in the gut. K.Y. Cheng

Published: 11:09pm, 11 Jun 2020Updated: 1:18am, 12 Jun 2020

Researchers at a Hong Kong university have developed a supplement designed to help increase good gut bacteria, something that could help boost Covid-19 immunity, after examining recovered patients who still had an imbalance in the make-up of microbes in their intestines.

The team from Chinese University made the probiotic supplement after examining infected patients and finding the seriousness of their illness correlated to how well or poorly the bacteria in their gut was balanced.

Professor Paul Chan speaks at a Thursday press conference in Hong Kong where his research team unveiled its new supplement designed to help the body balance bacteria levels in the gut. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

“Our research is the first and only in the world to look at Covid-19 patients gut bacteria, and we found they are actually missing good bacteria, which healthy people are supposed to have,” said Professor Ng Siew-chien, associate director of the Centre for Gut Microbiota Research at Chinese University.

“The good bacteria are supposed to help with immunity, so we think the missing bacteria make them more susceptible to infection,” she said.

Humans have about 100 trillion bacteria, good and bad, living in their intestines, collectively known as gut flora or gut microbiota. Differences in individuals depend on a variety of factors including where they live, genetics, diet and age, but certain bacteria strains found in all healthy individuals regulate the digestive system and act as a barrier against intestinal infections.