Viruses Associated with Acute Conjunctivitis in Vanuatu

Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2023 Jan 16:tpmd220600. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.22-0600. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTThe first manifestation of a viral infection may be conjunctivitis. There are limited data on the etiology of viral conjunctivitis in Vanuatu, a country in the South Pacific Ocean. Patients presenting to one of two Vanuatu health centers with presumed infectious conjunctivitis were eligible if symptom onset was within 14 days of screening. Conjunctival and anterior nasal swabs were obtained and subjected to unbiased RNA deep sequencing (RNA-seq) to identify DNA and RNA viruses. For samples collected from May to November 2021, RNA-seq identified a viral etiology in 12/48 patients. Human adenovirus species were the most common viruses (58%) detected, followed by human herpes viruses (cytomegalovirus, varicella zoster virus, and human herpes 7 virus). Rhinovirus C, Epstein-Barr virus, and bocavirus were also detected. In summary, the etiology for viral conjunctivitis in Vanuatu appears broad. Unbiased testing may be useful for disease surveillance.PMID:36646076 | DOI:10.4269/ajtmh.22-0600

Source: Am J Trop Med Hyg - January 16, 2023 Category: Infectious Diseases Authors: Kasso Johnson Fasihah Taleo Kalbule Willie Edwin Amel Madopule Nanu Marie Alguet Jose Wass Prudence Rymill Anthony Solomon Kevin Ruder Cindi Chen Lina Zhong Armin Hinterwirth David Liu Thomas Abraham Gerami Seitzman Thomas Lietman Thuy Doan SCORPIO Study Source Type: research