Could gut bacteria harbour SARS-CoV-2?
Petrillo et al.: first published 9 March 2022; revised version 23 April 2025. Related paper by Brogna et al.: 29 April 2022.
Mauro Petrillo, Carlo Brogna and their team report possible interactions between SARS-CoV-2 and gut bacteria. In bacterial cultures they observed viral proteins, indications of newly synthesised spike protein and changes they interpret as phage-like. Bacteriophages are viruses that infect bacteria.
The authors discuss whether gut bacteria could act as an overlooked viral reservoir. Possible implications for gut immunity and Long COVID remain research questions. This study establishes neither a cause of Long COVID nor an effective treatment.
These laboratory findings alone do not establish complete viral replication in gut bacteria inside the human body. The authors acknowledge that their interpretation conflicts with existing knowledge about the virus and call on other teams to test their findings.
Original sources
F1000Research: Petrillo et al. – revised version
Evidence of SARS-CoV-2 bacteriophage potential in human gut microbiota
DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.109236.2
Vaccines: Brogna et al. (2022)
Could SARS-CoV-2 Have Bacteriophage Behavior or Induce the Activity of Other Bacteriophages?
DOI: 10.3390/vaccines10050708