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Viruses & Bacteria in the Stomach

Does thinking about bacteria and viruses make you sick to your stomach? That feeling might worsen when you find out about the ones that actually live in your stomach.

Until the past five years, doctors believed that nothing---including germs---could live in the stomach because of its harsh, acidic environment. However, research over the past 20 years led to the conclusion that not only can some bacteria survive in the stomach, but there are at least 128 known varieties, most of which are still being studied. The good news is that while some bacteria can cause sickness, others seem to belong.

However, unlike bacteria, viruses cannot survive in the stomach. Much of what are considered viral infections of the stomach actually occur in the intestines.

  1. H. pylori

    • After decades of believing that gastrointestinal ulcers were the product of stress and spicy foods, research on bacteria revealed that bacterial infection is the real culprit. H. pylori is a bacterium which can eat away at the stomach lining because it is impervious to the power of stomach acid.

      Luckily, H. pylori responds to antibiotics. Doctors now use a complex treatment of medications to reduce stomach acid production, fight bacteria and soothe and help repair stomach lining. This represents a dramatic cure, which led to a 2005 Nobel Prize for Australian researchers Robin Warren and Barry Marshall.

    D. radiodurans

    • A January 2006 study by Dr. Elisabeth Bik of Stanford University revealed the existence of a stomach-dwelling relative of the D. radiodurans bacterium. This new strain has yet to receive its own name but is under heavy investigation.

      Researchers remain unsure of its function or whether the bacterium lives full-time in the stomach or if it is just transient. One thing that's intriguing: D. radiodurans lives in radioactive waste dumps and hot springs where few other forms of life survive. Science is working to understand what that means for human life and functioning.

    E. coli, Ptomaine and Viruses

    • We commonly associate food poisoning illness such as those caused by E. coli and ptomaine as bacterial infections of the stomach. In fact, when our digestive tract feels off, especially with cramping, vomiting and diarrhea, the real activity is taking place in the duodenum and intestines.

      Similarly, "stomach flu" and other viral infections cannot survive in the acidic stomach and are really brewing up their storm lower in the digestive tract.

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