Bioluminescence and ventilator-associated pneumonia caused by oral biofilm in ICU during COVID-19 -Is there a possible relationship?

Betsy Joseph; Liviu Steier

doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2021.110760

Bioluminescence and ventilator-associated pneumonia caused by oral biofilm in ICU during COVID-19 -Is there a possible relationship?

Med Hypotheses. 2022 Feb:159:110760. doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2021.110760. Epub 2022 Jan 3.

Authors

Betsy Joseph¹, Liviu Steier^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Periodontics, Saveetha Dental College and Hospitals, Saveetha University, Chennai 600077, India.
² Department of Preventive and Restorative Sciences, School of Dental Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
³ Department of Restorative Dentistry, Saveetha Dental College and Hospitals, Saveetha University, Chennai 600077, India.

Abstract

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) has been claiming many lives in the intensive care unit (ICU) during COVID-19. Oral biofilm and bacterial contamination that can be passed on from the oral cavity to the lungs during endotracheal intubation has been found to be the main culprit. Bioluminescence-based assays are emerging as potential clinical diagnostics methods. Hence, we hypothesize that the bioluminescent imaging technique can be used in the ICU to determine the load of biofilm-associated with patients undergoing endotracheal intubation. Early detection of such infections and their management can effectively bring down mortality and influence the death rate in ICU caused due to VAP. Government agencies and policymakers should be made to take this issue of deaths in the ICU due to VAP more seriously and act judiciously to methods such as bioluminescence based on sound scientific evidence.

Keywords: Bioluminescence.; COVID-19.; ICU deaths; Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia.

MeSH terms

Biofilms
COVID-19*
Humans
Intensive Care Units
Pneumonia, Ventilator-Associated*
Respiration, Artificial
SARS-CoV-2