Can a microbiota-derived health supplement mitigate adverse events after COVID-19 vaccination in children?

Members of the phylum Bacteroidota are suspected to stimulate macrophages and monocytes to secrete a complex array of pro-inflammatory cytokines (eg, interferon-γ, tumour necrosis factor-α, and neurotoxins), which could trigger an aberrant immune response and contribute to a cytokine storm[-]induced abnormal inflammatory reaction.2Thus, the correction of gut dysbiosis through prebiotic/probiotic supplementation might offer a solution for the management of COVID-19 vaccine[-]related adverse reactions. Exploration of a microbiota-derived health supplement During the fifth wave of COVID-19 in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong SAR Government promoted the vaccination of children aged 6 months to 17 years. Because there is no prior information regarding the efficacy or safety of microbiota-derived health supplements in children undergoing COVID-19 vaccination, we performed a pilot study to evaluate the use of a health supplement available in Hong Kong, the G-NiiB Immunity formula (SIM01, containing 10 billion colony-forming units per sachet; developed by The Chinese University of Hong Kong), in alleviating adverse events after COVID-19 vaccination in children aged 5 to 17 years. Implications and future work Recent research indicates that baseline gut microbiota composition can predict immune responses to COVID-19 vaccines and vaccine-related adverse events in adults.6 7 However, corresponding data for children have been limited. The funder had no role in study design, data collection/analysis/interpretation, or manuscript preparation.