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. 2017 Dec;97(6):1872-1875.
doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.17-0282. Epub 2017 Sep 21.

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

Paul F Horwood  1   2 , Kevin W Soli  1 , Tobias Maure  1 , Yuichi I Naito  3 , Ayako Morita  4 , Kazumi Natsuhara  5 , Kiyoshi Tadokoro  4 , Jun Baba  6 , Shingo Odani  7 , Eriko Tomitsuka  8   4 , Katsura Igai  9   4 , Jo-Ann Larkins  10 , Peter M Siba  1 , William Pomat  1 , Emma S McBryde  11 , Masahiro Umezaki  4 , Andrew R Greenhill  10   1
Affiliations

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

Paul F Horwood et al. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2017 Dec.

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.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Box plots comparing numbers of key bacterial communities in carriage positive and carriage negative individuals. (A) Bacteriodetes vs. any pathogen; (B) Bacteroides fragilis vs. any pathogen; (C) Prevotella spp. vs. any pathogen; (D) Firmicutes vs. any pathogen; (E) Enterobacteriaceae vs. any pathogen; (F) Total Lactobacillus vs. any pathogen; (G) Total bacteria vs. any pathogen. This figure appears in color at www.ajtmh.org.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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