{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T01:17:03Z","timestamp":1760145423341,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":44,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,25]],"date-time":"2024-07-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1721865600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"British Embassy Panama City","award":["PO 302185057"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PO 302185057"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pathogens"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was the causative agent of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. While research on COVID-19 has mainly focused on its epidemiology, pathogenesis, and treatment, studies on the naso-oropharyngeal microbiota have emerged in the last few years as an overlooked area of research. Here, we analyzed the bacterial community composition of the naso-oropharynx in 50 suspected SARS-CoV-2 cases (43 detected, 7 not detected) from Veraguas province (Panama) distributed across five age categories. Statistical analysis revealed no significant differences (p &lt; 0.05) in bacterial alpha and beta diversities between the groups categorized by SARS-CoV-2 test results, age, or patient status. The genera Corynebacterium, Staphylococcus, Prevotella, Streptococcus, and Tepidiphilus were the most abundant in both detected and not-detected SARS-CoV-2 group. The linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) for biomarker exploration indicated that Veillonella and Prevotella were enriched in detected and hospitalized patients with SARS-CoV-2 relative to non-detected patients, while Thermoanaerobacterium and Haemophilus were enriched in non-detected patients with SARS-CoV-2. The results also indicated that the genus Corynebacterium was found to decrease in patients with detected SARS-CoV-2 relative to those with non-detected SARS-CoV-2. Understanding the naso-oropharyngeal microbiota provides insights into the diversity, composition, and resilience of the microbial community in patients with SARS-CoV-2.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/pathogens13080615","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,25]],"date-time":"2024-07-25T08:40:04Z","timestamp":1721896804000},"page":"615","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Insights into the Naso-Oropharyngeal Bacterial Composition in Suspected SARS-CoV-2 Cases"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3668-5577","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Librada A.","family":"Atencio","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro de Biodiversidad y Descubrimiento de Drogas, Instituto de Investigaciones Cient\u00edficas y Servicios de Alta Tecnolog\u00eda (INDICASAT), Clayton, Panama City 0843-01103, Panama"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Indira J.","family":"Quintero","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro de Biodiversidad y Descubrimiento de Drogas, Instituto de Investigaciones Cient\u00edficas y Servicios de Alta Tecnolog\u00eda (INDICASAT), Clayton, Panama City 0843-01103, Panama"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Alejandro","family":"Almanza","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro de Biodiversidad y Descubrimiento de Drogas, Instituto de Investigaciones Cient\u00edficas y Servicios de Alta Tecnolog\u00eda (INDICASAT), Clayton, Panama City 0843-01103, Panama"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Gilberto","family":"Eskildsen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Microbiolog\u00eda Humana, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Panam\u00e1, Panama City 0819-07289, Panama"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Joel","family":"S\u00e1nchez-Gallego","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Marine Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA"},{"name":"Coiba Scientific Station (COIBA AIP), Gustavo Lara Street, Bld. 145B, City of Knowledge, Clayton, Panama City 0843-01853, Panama"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mellissa","family":"Herrera","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hospital Luis \u201cChicho\u201d F\u00e1brega, MINSA, Santiago 0923, Panama"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Herm\u00f3genes","family":"Fern\u00e1ndez-Mar\u00edn","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro de Biodiversidad y Descubrimiento de Drogas, Instituto de Investigaciones Cient\u00edficas y Servicios de Alta Tecnolog\u00eda (INDICASAT), Clayton, Panama City 0843-01103, Panama"},{"name":"Sistema Nacional de Investigaci\u00f3n (SNI), Secretar\u00eda Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnolog\u00eda, e Innovaci\u00f3n (SENACYT), Panama City 0816-02852, Panama"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jos\u00e9 R.","family":"Loaiza","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro de Biodiversidad y Descubrimiento de Drogas, Instituto de Investigaciones Cient\u00edficas y Servicios de Alta Tecnolog\u00eda (INDICASAT), Clayton, Panama City 0843-01103, Panama"},{"name":"Sistema Nacional de Investigaci\u00f3n (SNI), Secretar\u00eda Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnolog\u00eda, e Innovaci\u00f3n (SENACYT), Panama City 0816-02852, Panama"},{"name":"Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City 0843-03092, Panama"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2135-5241","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Luis C.","family":"Mej\u00eda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro de Biodiversidad y Descubrimiento de Drogas, Instituto de Investigaciones Cient\u00edficas y Servicios de Alta Tecnolog\u00eda (INDICASAT), Clayton, Panama City 0843-01103, Panama"},{"name":"Sistema Nacional de Investigaci\u00f3n (SNI), Secretar\u00eda Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnolog\u00eda, e Innovaci\u00f3n (SENACYT), Panama City 0816-02852, Panama"},{"name":"Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City 0843-03092, Panama"},{"name":"Departamento de Gen\u00e9tica y Biolog\u00eda Molecular, Universidad de Panam\u00e1, Estafeta Universitaria Apartado 3366, Zona 4, Panama City 0819-07289, Panama"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1517","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(20)30920-X","article-title":"SARS-CoV-2 and Viral Sepsis: Observations and 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