Washington : A particular microorganism living on the human skin can effectively clear bacteria that cause chancroid, a sexually transmitted disease common in the developing world that has been linked to enhanced HIV transmission, a new study has found. For years, researchers have known that the human skin is home to a diverse community of microorganisms, collectively known as the skin microbiome.
The study is the first prospective study to show that the skin microbiome can influence the outcomes of a bacterial infection, researchers said.
“What we found from this study is that people who resolve infections start off with microbiomes that resemble each other,” said lead author Stanley Spinola, professor and chair, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Indiana University School of Medicine in US, reports PTI.
“People who form abscesses in response to infection have different microbiomes that don’t resemble each other preinfection, but during an infection, they get driven to one composition,” Spinola said. “If the bacteria in the resolvers are actually contributing to the host defence, you could think about using bacteria as a probiotic to help prevent infection or you could use the microbiome to identify people at risk for certain infections,” Spinola said.
