Parents Beware! Everyone Emits Unique Microbial Germ Clouds [Study]

A recent study has discovered that every person emits a unique, personalized "microbial cloud" of bacteria everywhere they go.

HealthDay reports that scientists say each person emits a personalized "microbial cloud" of bacteria everywhere they go. This cloud can be used to identify a person who has occupied a sealed room, based on its unique makeup.

The study is published in the journal PeerJ.

A "microbiome," as what scientists call it, is a colony of helpful microbes that are known to reside in and out of the human body. Such microbes can be found in the gastrointestinal tract and on the skin. These microbes, as the study says, are emitted into the air surrounding an individual.

The researchers sequenced and examined air samples, containing microbial clouds, from a sanitized experimental chamber which has been occupied by 11 different people. They have found that most of the occupants who sat in the chamber can be identified within four hours, based on the unique makeup of the microbial cloud found in the air.

The results were driven by several groups of bacteria that are ubiquitous on and in humans. Streptococcus, which is commonly found in the mouth, as well as Propionibacterium and Corynebacterium, which are common skin residents, were detected in the air surrounding the people who participated in the study. Although these are common human-associated microbes, the researchers have found that the different unique combinations of these bacteria are the key to identify a specific person in the study.

"We expected that we would be able to detect the human microbiome in the air around a person, but we were surprised to find that we could identify most of the occupants just by sampling their microbial cloud," said lead author James F. Meadow in a press release via EurekAlert! He is a postdoctoral researcher formerly from the Biology and the Built Environment Center at the University of Oregon.

"Our results confirm that an occupied space is microbially distinct from an unoccupied one, and demonstrate for the first time that individuals release their own personalized microbial cloud," he adds as per HealthDay.

Having shed light on the extent in which each person releases a unique microbiome to the surrounding environment, the study findings might help health practitioners understand the mechanisms involved in the spread of infectious airborne diseases, and may help parents be more cautious in letting their kids stay in any public environment.

The results might also be used for forensic purposes, although it must be noted that detection of an individual from a crowd using the same method is still unclear.