Rosas-Salazar C, Kimura KS, Shilts MH, et al. - Researchers compared SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2)-infected and -uninfected adults in terms of URT (upper respiratory tract) microbiome, as well as assessed the link of SARS-CoV-2 viral load with the URT microbiome during COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019). In SARS-CoV-2-infected participants, the observed species index was identified to be significantly higher, vs in SARS-CoV-2 uninfected adults. According to differential abundance testing, significantly different were 9 amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) in both of the comparisons; those with SARS-CoV-2 infection as well as those with high viral load during COVID-19 were identified to be more abundant in Peptoniphilus lacrimalis, Campylobacter hominis, Prevotella 9 copri, and an Anaerococcus unclassified ASV, whereas more abundance with Corynebacterium unclassified, Staphylococcus haemolyticus, Prevotella disiens, and 2 Corynebacterium_1 unclassified ASVs was seen in participants without SARS-CoV-2 infection as well as in those with low viral load during COVID-19. These data indicate complex links between SARS-CoV-2 and the URT microbiome among adults.