TY - JOUR AU - Kasso Johnson AU - Fasihah Taleo AU - Kalbule Willie AU - Edwin Amel AU - Madopule Nanu AU - Marie Alguet AU - Jose Wass AU - Prudence Rymill AU - Anthony Solomon AU - Kevin Ruder AU - Cindi Chen AU - Lina Zhong AU - Armin Hinterwirth AU - David Liu AU - Thomas Abraham AU - Gerami Seitzman AU - Thomas Lietman AU - Thuy Doan AU - SCORPIO Group AB -

The 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.

BT - Am J Trop Med Hyg DA - 2023 Jan 16 DO - 10.4269/ajtmh.22-0600 J2 - Am J Trop Med Hyg LA - eng N2 -

The 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.

PY - 2023 T2 - Am J Trop Med Hyg TI - Viruses Associated with Acute Conjunctivitis in Vanuatu. SN - 1476-1645 ER -