Nose-dwelling bacteria may affect a baby's first cold

Business Standard: A new research on the types of bacteria living in babies' noses offered clues as to why some recover quickly from their first cough or cold, while others suffer for longer.

The study, conducted by the researchers at the University Children's Hospital of Basel, suggested that babies who have a wide variety of different bacteria living in their noses tend to recover more quickly from their first respiratory virus, compared to those who have less variety and more bacteria from either the Moraxellaceae or Streptococcaceae family.

The findings of the study are published in the Journal of ERJ Open Research.

The researchers stated that their findings do not offer an immediate solution to help babies recover more quickly from coughs and colds. However, the results helped scientists understand the importance of the bacteria living in the respiratory tract, and how they influence infections and long-term conditions such as asthma.

"It is well known that different types of bacteria live in our gut. The respiratory tract is also home to a wide variety of bacteria and we are beginning to understand that the types and numbers of these bacteria, what we refer to as the microbiota, can influence our respiratory health," explained Roland P Neumann, one of the researchers of the study. BS