The combinational use of probiotics and prebiotics supplement lower the infection risk of hand-foot-and-mouth disease in children potentially by providing resistance to the gut microbiota dysbiosis. Gut microbiota and hand-foot-and-mouth disease

Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is an acute enterovirus-induced disease. Gut microbiota dysbiosis has been identified playing important role in enteral virus infection, the profile of gut microbiota in HFMD were rarely studied in large population. The present cross-sectional study aimed to explore the differences of gut microbiota between HFMD and healthy children, and the association between HFMD and probiotics and/or prebiotics supplements. A total of 749 children were recruited from hospitals and communities, and fecal samples were collected and processed for 16S sequencing. There was a significant microbiota alteration in HFMD children compared with control children. Prevotella and Streptococcus were enriched in HFMD children, whereas beneficial bacteria, including Bifidobacterium and Faecalibacterium were depleted. In addition, children applied the combinational use of probiotics and prebiotics had a lower morbidity of HFMD and their gut microbiota showed a potential resistance to the dysbiosis of HFMD. The present study is the largest HFMD cohort of gut microbiota, suggesting that gut microbiota of patients with HFMD was dysbiotic and the applying probiotics and prebiotics together showed potential protection to maintain homeostasis of gut flora.