Human microbiome and the acquisition of respiratory tract infections
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Influence of the human microbiome in the acquisition of acute respiratory tract infections in the community: a prospective cohort feasibility study
IRAS ID
265566
Contact name
Ashley Hammond
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Bristol
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 29 days
Research summary
We are interested in understanding how people develop respiratory tract infections (coughs, colds, sore throats and chest infections) in the community, and what factors might increase the likelihood of this. We know from previous research that our microbiome (collection of microorganisms which reside in a particular body space, eg. the gut) have been associated with the development of several conditions such as cystic fibrosis and Crohn’s disease, and also in some hospital-acquired respiratory infections, but what we don’t yet know is what influence the microbiome might have in the development of more common infections, including respiratory infections.\n\nWe want to collect stool samples and saliva samples from participants over the winter period (November-April) before, during and after they develop respiratory symptoms to determine whether the microbiome in the respiratory tract and the gut influence the development of respiratory symptoms, and whether the microbiome change at any time before, during and after infection. We also want to collect some additional risk factor information about the participants to determine other possible ways in which people develop respiratory infections, including contact with children and their history of antibiotics prescribed.\n \nOne main point of doing this work is to see if it would be possible to roll this out on a large scale, and possibly develop interventions that will reduce the incidence of respiratory infections in the community and the number of general practice (GP) consultations for respiratory symptoms. Our study is funded by the National Institute for Health Research – School for Primary Care Research (NIHR-SPCR). [COVID-19 amendment 19/05/2020] in light of the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic which was spreading across the UK at the time our study\nwas taking place, we would like to also test all of our study samples for SARS-CoV-2 to explore asymptomatic carriage, symptomatic infection and potential viral shedding - given that we requested samples before, during and after respiratory symptom onset.
REC name
South West - Central Bristol Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/SW/0167
Date of REC Opinion
4 Oct 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion