Mania Lia, Nanobashvili Ketevan, Manjavidze Tinatin, Benashvili Mamuka, Bzishvili Nino, Astamadze Ia
Doctoral Program of Public Health, School of Health Sciences, University of Georgia, Kostava Str. 77a, Tbilisi 0171, Georgia.
Department of Healthcare, Tbilisi Humanitarian University, Monk Gabriel Salos Ave. No. 31, Tbilisi 0144, Georgia.
Children (Basel). 2025 May 31;12(6):725. doi: 10.3390/children12060725.
BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become the cause of a global health crisis during the pandemic. This research aimed to study the impact of symptomatic COVID-19 on children's oral health indices and salivary microbiome composition during the post-COVID-19 period.
An observational, cross-sectional study was conducted in Tbilisi (Georgia) among children aged 7-12 years. A total of 421 children included in the study had a history of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 within one year of exposure. No participants met the criteria for comorbid conditions or for PCC. A stratified simple random selection of schools and among selected clusters was used. The selected children were divided into two groups: the exposed group, who were patients with a history of symptomatic COVID-19, and the control group, who were patients with a history of asymptomatic COVID-19. The data were collected from August 2022 to December 2023. Oral screening, microbiological examination of saliva, and administration of questionnaires were also performed. Logistic regression was used to calculate ORs with 95% confidence intervals. The statistical processing of the data was performed with SPSS 23.0. This study was approved by the Biomedical Research Ethical Council of the University of Georgia (UGREC-04-22/9 March 2022).
Statistically significant differences in the means of the oral health indicators between the studied groups were detected (exposed: DMFT + deft = 5.9; MGI = 0.92; S-OHI = 1.9; control: DMFT + deft = 3.8; MGI = 0.56; S-OHI = 1.4). According to the logistic regression, symptomatic COVID-19 had a significant effect on the following oral health indicators: DMFT + deft (OR = 1.26; 95% CI = 1.14-1.39), MGI (OR = 2.31; 95% CI = 1.50-3.55), and S-OHI (OR = 3.43; 95% CI = 2.03-5.76). The effect of symptomatic COVID-19 on the frequency of eradication of the studied microbiome was also significant (OR = 2.12; 95% CI = 1.23-3.63).
A close association was established between symptomatic COVID-19 and microbiome changes in the oral saliva of children, as well as between oral health indicators and symptomatic COVID-19. Considering the research results, it is assumed that a symptomatic course of COVID-19 may be an additional risk factor associated with poor oral health in the pediatric population in the post-COVID-19 period.
背景/目的：2019年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）在疫情期间已成为全球健康危机的起因。本研究旨在探讨有症状的COVID-19在COVID-19后时期对儿童口腔健康指数和唾液微生物群组成的影响。
在第比利斯（格鲁吉亚）对7至12岁儿童进行了一项观察性横断面研究。纳入研究的421名儿童在接触后一年内有实验室确诊的COVID-19病史。没有参与者符合合并症或PCC的标准。采用分层简单随机抽样的方法选取学校和选定集群中的儿童。将选定的儿童分为两组：暴露组，即有症状COVID-19病史的患者；对照组，即有无症状COVID-19病史的患者。数据收集时间为2022年8月至2023年12月。还进行了口腔筛查、唾液微生物学检查和问卷调查。采用逻辑回归计算95%置信区间的比值比（OR）。数据的统计处理使用SPSS 23.0进行。本研究得到了格鲁吉亚大学（UGREC-04-22/2022年3月9日）生物医学研究伦理委员会的批准。
研究组之间口腔健康指标均值存在统计学显著差异（暴露组：DMFT+deft=5.9；MGI=0.92；S-OHI=1.9；对照组：DMFT+deft=3.8；MGI=0.56；S-OHI=1.4）。根据逻辑回归，有症状的COVID-19对以下口腔健康指标有显著影响：DMFT+deft（OR=1.26；95%CI=1.14-1.39）、MGI（OR=2.31；95%CI=1.50-3.55）和S-OHI（OR=3.43；95%CI=2.03-5.76）。有症状的COVID-19对所研究微生物群根除频率的影响也很显著（OR=2.12；95%CI=1.23-3.63）。
有症状的COVID-19与儿童口腔唾液微生物群变化之间以及口腔健康指标与有症状的COVID-19之间建立了密切关联。考虑到研究结果，推测COVID-19的有症状病程可能是COVID-19后时期儿科人群口腔健康不良的一个额外危险因素。
