Metagenomic Analysis of Human Diarrhoea
Diarrhoea is one of the leading infectious causes of death worldwide with an estimated 1.8 million deaths annually, primarily in young children in developing countries. There are many known causes of diarrhoea; however, the causes of up to 40% of the cases are still unknown. One possibility is that viruses that we currently do not know about are responsible for these cases. The advent of metagenomic sequencing has enabled systematic and unbiased characterization of microbial populations; thus, metagenomic approaches have the potential to define the spectrum of viruses, including novel viruses, present in stool during episodes of acute diarrhoea. The detection of novel or unexpected viruses would then enable investigations to assess whether these agents play a causal role in human diarrhoea.
This paper uses an experimental strategy termed “micro-mass sequencing” to systematically identify viruses present in stool from a number of patients suffering from diarrhoea. Using this methodology we detected known enteric viruses as well as multiple sequences from putatively novel viruses with only limited sequence similarity to viruses in GenBank. Sequences from a number of novel viruses were detected, some which differed quite significantly from any previously described virus. These new viruses may or may not be responsible for causing diarrhoea. Future studies will specifically address the potential of these viruses to cause human disease. One implication of this study is that there are likely to be many more unknown viruses that can be identified in this fashion. Furthermore, by studying these viruses, we will come to a more complete understanding of the role viruses play in diarrhoea. Ultimately, this may lead to the development of therapeutics and/or vaccines that decrease the disease burden of diarrhoea.
Tags: Biology, Biotechnology, Environment, Health, Medicine, Microbiology, Science, Vaccines, Virology
In Morocco, we seem to have diarrheal and vomiting illnesses that sweep through schools. These don’t necessarily seem to be connected to food poisoning–they seem to pass through various classes for a while, and then taper off. Kids bring their own food from home, but they often share with each other, and don’t always remember to wash hands. The same illnesses sometimes go around among adults, even being caught by teachers. Adults here usually do wash their hands before eating. These illnesses seem to go on for a day or two, but sometimes keep circulating for up to a few weeks. So I could easily believe that these could be caused by unidentified viruses. I found this post of yours very interesting.
Madame Monet, in Marrakesh, Morocco
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