Analysis of Nasopharyngeal Microbiota in Patients With Respiratory Infections

In recent years, the microbiota of the upper airways has emerged as a further factor influencing the susceptibility, frequency and severity of acute respiratory diseases. Greater knowledge of it, also with corrective purposes, as has now been demonstrated for other body areas, could be of great help in reducing the risk of acute recurrent disease and/or chronic consequences. The oropharyngeal microbiota is in fact made up of numerous bacterial species which, by colonizing this anatomical tract, interact with the mucosa of the pharynx and therefore with the immune system, contributing to the homeostasis of the upper respiratory tract and consequently also preserving the integrity of the lower respiratory tract. As observed for other anatomical sites, the composition of the oropharyngeal microbiota is conditioned by external events, among which we find the use of antibiotics or oral disinfectant drugs which can favor the development of pathogenic microorganisms. For this reason, characterizing the oropharyngeal microbiota in a state of acute and/or chronic respiratory infection could increase knowledge on the microbiological signature associated with such infections and ineffective antibiotic treatments to the point of becoming a factor used to prevent respiratory tract infections.