ATLANTA — Flu activity is still very high in the metro area and researchers at Georgia State University says good gut bacteria may help protect against serious flu.
Many of the hospitalizations and deaths associated with flu are from secondary infections like pneumonia.
Georgia State University Regents’ Professor Andrew Gewirtz says his research shows your gut health matters.
“It very much matters, in that putting healthy bacteria in there would have a dramatic protection against a secondary bacterial infection,” said Gewirtz.
The research is in mice and it shows that good gut health protects against secondary infections from flu-like pneumonia.
“We’re hoping it will be possible in the not-too-distant future to reproduce those benefits pharmacologically as well by generating small molecules that you could administer directly to the lung”, said Gewirtz.
He says more research is underway, but in the meantime simply maintaining good gut health by eating fruits, vegetables, and fermented foods is a good idea.