Deep sequencing analysis of acute conjunctivitis in Burkina Faso, Africa

Mamadou Bountogo; Ali Sié; Boubacar Coulibaly; Kevin Ruder; Cindi Chen; Lina Zhong; Emily Colby; Elodie Lebas; Michael Deiner; Armin Hinterwirth; Thomas M Lietman; Gerami D Seitzman; Thuy Doan

doi:10.1093/inthealth/ihac001

Deep sequencing analysis of acute conjunctivitis in Burkina Faso, Africa

Int Health. 2023 Jan 3;15(1):101-103. doi: 10.1093/inthealth/ihac001.

Authors

Mamadou Bountogo¹, Ali Sié¹, Boubacar Coulibaly¹, Kevin Ruder², Cindi Chen², Lina Zhong², Emily Colby², Elodie Lebas², Michael Deiner³, Armin Hinterwirth², Thomas M Lietman^{2

3}, Gerami D Seitzman^{2

3}, Thuy Doan^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Centre de Recherche en Sante de Nouna, Rue Namory Keita, BP02, Nouna, Burkina Faso.
² F. I. Proctor Foundation, University of California San Francisco, 490 Illinois Street, Floor 2, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA.
³ Department of Ophthalmology, University of California San Francisco, 490 Illinois Street, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA.

Abstract

Background: Seasonal and epidemic conjunctivitis (pink eye) infections are highly contagious and impose a significant economic burden worldwide. Long-term visual impairment can occur.

Methods: This study used metagenomic deep sequencing to evaluate pathogens causing acute infectious conjunctivitis in Burkina Faso.

Results: We found that pathogens causing conjunctivitis in Burkina Faso are diverse, with human adenoviruses responsible for a small fraction of the samples tested.

Conclusions: These results are unexpected and suggest the importance of regional surveillance.

Keywords: Burkina Faso; SCORPIO Study Group; acute conjunctivitis; epidemics; human adenovirus.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Acute Disease
Burkina Faso / epidemiology
Conjunctivitis* / epidemiology
Epidemics*
High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing
Humans

Grants and funding

R01 EY032041/EY/NEI NIH HHS/United States