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A High Burden of Asymptomatic Gastrointestinal Infections in Traditional Communities in Papua New Guinea

Authors :
Paul F. Horwood
Kazumi Natsuhara
Tobias Maure
Emma S. McBryde
Kevin W. Soli
Jun Baba
Jo-ann Larkins
Andrew R. Greenhill
Eriko Tomitsuka
Kiyoshi Tadokoro
Yuichi I. Naito
Masahiro Umezaki
Peter Siba
Katsura Igai
Shingo Odani
Ayako Morita
William Pomat
Source :
The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Publication Year :
2017
Publisher :
American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2017.

Abstract

Stool samples were collected from 148 healthy adults living a traditional subsistence lifestyle in Papua New Guinea and screened for enteric pathogens using real-time RT-PCR/PCR assays. Enteric pathogens were detected in a high proportion (41%) of individuals. Clear differences were observed in the detection of pathogens between highland and lowland communities. In particular, there was a marked difference in detection rates of norovirus GII (20% and 0%, respectively) and Shigella sp. (15% and 0%, respectively). Analysis of the relationship between enteric pathogen carriage and microbial community composition of participants, using box plots to compare specific normal flora population numbers, did not suggest that gut microbial composition was directly associated with pathogen carriage. This study suggests that enteric pathogens are common in healthy individuals in Papua New Guinean highland communities, presumably acting as a reservoir of infection and thus contributing to a high burden of gastrointestinal illnesses.

Details

ISSN :
14761645 and 00029637
Volume :
97
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Accession number :
edsair.doi.dedup.....6b9c98cd57539e7472a753a8baa4e5d6
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.17-0282