**6. Relooking at the WHO guidelines**

Three main COVID-19 guidelines were issued by the world health organization (WHO) in the fight against the novel SARS CoV-2. One of them was the proper handwashing of hands. This is based on the idea that the coronavirus is killed by proper handwashing of hands for 20 seconds with soap or by using hand sanitizer that has an alcohol concentration of more than 60%. The microbial envelop is assumed to be effectively being affected by the soap.

### **7. The implications of washing hands on the immune system**

Normally, the human hand has a high concentration of microbial community. However, studies on the hand microbiome showed that there are some factors that can impact the hand microbiome composition. These factors include, temporal and biogeographical changes, age and intrinsic gender. Others are extrinsic product use, extrinsic cohabitants and extrinsic pet-ownership variables. Further studies have shown that the hand microbiome is always in constant changes. Therefore, hands are a critical factor in transmitting microbes between people, animals, inanimate objects and our environments see **Figure 3**). This transmission and establishment of microbes stimulates our immune system and prevents harmful microbes from colonizing the hands. Consequently, the WHO guideline seems to be enhancing the reduction of hand microbes and can contributing to the weakening the immune boosting abilities and opening the hand to new pathogens including novel viruses like SAR CoV-2. Washing hands with a sanitizer also makes it more difficult for the normal body flora to reoccupy their habitats due to changes of pH. It is like a reset of the microbiome. The touching eyes, skin, nose and mouth and other body parts after

#### **Figure 3.**

*The continuing wearing of face masks reduces the distribution of natural microbes to other places. Keeping interactive social distancing reduces the transfer of natural microbes from one person to another and from one region to another. This transfer of microbes from one source to another is crucial for the training and development of the immune system in children and boosting and strengthening the same immune system in adults. The current invasion of SARS CoV-2 into an intact and dynamic microbiome and its establishment is not possible. However, these studies show that it can be reinforced by a systematic destruction of the microbiome community or by having a novel synthetic virus which is more aggressive.*

touching other places and people assist in boosting the strength of the immune system as a natural process.

### **8. The implications of social distance on the immune system**

The maintenance of social distance or physical distance of at least 1 metre (3 feet) distance between one person and another has been used as a measure of preventing the spread of SARS CoV-2. This was to reduce the spray of contaminated droplets from nose and mouth to uninfected people. Moreover, people with symptoms like coughing, headache and fever were advised to self-isolate. However, the implication of the social distancing practice is that there shall be little person to person exchange of microbes. This if practice is coupled with the washing of hands and continuous sanitizing shall make it very difficult to recover the normal flora populations. This shall be another reset of normal body flora. It shall cause a weakening of the immune system and might most likely open an opportunity for new pathogens to attack the body including making the new SARS CoV-2 more virulent. Furthermore, in the face of the global climate change and increased migrations we might end up with a reset of the current human microbiome population.

### **9. The implications of wearing face masks on the immune system**

In another the precaution of wearing face masks in crowded places is not natural to the body. It can increase mental stress in the body on people who are already bombarded with economic burden and frequent pandemic information. Immunological studies show that stressed bodies might have malfunctioning of the endocrine system and the weakening of the immune system. The use of a mask increases the intake of the respiratory carbon dioxide from the body which makes metabolism to be lower. This affects negatively people with other under laying conditions like diabetes, mental health and high blood pressure.

*Perspective Chapter: Emergency COVID-19 Guidelines Impacts on the Human Microbiome… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.107843*

### **10. Discussions and conclusions**

The diversity, abundance and functionality of the microbiome is still being deciphered. It is worthy to note that the microbiome role in health is of paramount importance. Much studies on microbiomes and microbiota have been done in bacteria. Less studies have been done in fungi, with only less than 400 fungal species so far having been isolated [19–21].

The training and development of the host immune system is promoted by natural body and environmental microbes. These interactions have been occurring to keep invading pathogens at bay. Some of these microbes are commensals and hence they promote the development of the immune system B cells that assist the body to produce Immunoglobulin A (IgA) which is a protective antibody. The role of the IgA is to neutralize pathogens and exotoxins. This promotes the development of the immune system. Deviations from this natural mechanism can have short term effects but after sometime it can produce new waves of disease out breaks and pandemics. The natural microbiome populations have been known to prevent the growth of harmful pathogens by using various parameters like altering pH, effectively consuming nutrients required for pathogen survival, and by even secreting toxins and antibodies that inhibit growth and competition of pathogens [16].

This Chapter has examined some of the potential effects of WHO guidelines in relation to microbiome and the human immune system. Suggestions have been made on how to have a balance between having a healthy immune system and not exposing it to pathogenic attacks when weakened. Microbes have a significant capacity in influencing health by being immune modulators through either their cell components

#### **Figure 4.**

*The effects of the WHO guidelines of social distancing, sanitization of hands, streets and markets and homes is gradually reducing the protective microbiome barrier in human populations. The invasion of SARS CoV-2 into an intact and dynamic microbiome is being reinforced by destroying the microbiome community if a synthetic and more competitive, mutating virus which destroys the immune system is introduced in the equilibrium. This can lead to another pandemic due to the altering, replacing or editing the time proven human-microbiome interactions.*

or other cellular metabolites including hormone production. We propose the development of microbiome targeted therapeutics strategy in order to involve the role of immune system dynamics in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic (**Figure 4**).
