Scientists from the University of Calgary have discovered that a healthy gut microbiome can prevent fatal infections in critically ill patients in intensive care. The research was published in the journal nature medicine.
Between 20% and 50% of all critically ill patients develop fatal infections while in the intensive care unit. However, some patients do not respond to antibiotics.
The new study included 51 patients admitted to the intensive care unit. The patients were examined in the first week of the acute critical condition.
An unhealthy gut microbiome has been linked to immune system dysfunction and significantly increased levels of nosocomial infections. Perhaps the reason why pathogenic bacteria lead to the death of a person is the damage to the microbiome.
“The results show that if we want to fight infection, we cannot target these harmful bacteria alone and the immune system alone. We really need a more holistic view of how things work,” the scientists said.
In the future, the authors plan to conduct a randomized controlled clinical trial of the efficacy of treating patients in intensive care with individual probiotics.