Comprehensive Microbiological and Metagenomic Analysis of the Guillain–Barré Syndrome Outbreak in Lima, 2019
In 2018/2019, two large Guillain–Barré Syndrome (GBS) outbreaks took place in Peru. Here, we report a comprehensive analysis of biological samples from GBS patients from the 2019 outbreak. We applied metagenomic, microbiologic, and serological analyses to different biological samples collected from GBS patients. Further phenotypic and genomic characterization was conducted on Campylobacter jejuni isolates from GBS samples. Microbiologic and metagenomic analyses revealed several patients with multiple co-infections, yet no common infectious agents were found other than C. jejuni. Four C. jejuni isolates were isolated from rectal swabs. Twenty-one patients had detectable IgG serum antibodies related to C. jejuni, of whom seven had IgM antibodies. Genomic analyses showed that these four strains were clonal (ST2993) and contained the class A lipooligosaccharide biosynthesis locus. These results further support the idea that that C. jejuni is the etiological agent that triggered the GBS outbreak in Peru in 2019 and that the strains are not restricted to Peru, hence could be regarded as a broad public health concern. Furthermore, though we cannot delineate the role played by co-infections in GBS development, results obtained herein highlight metagenomic analysis as a potential new tool for depicting a yet unknown area of research in GBS.
Authors
- Kyle A. Long (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-6426-3758)
- Regina Z. Cer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2395-980X)
- Frédéric Poly (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0887-2084)
- Mariana Ramos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3230-8424)
- Rina Meza
- Cristhopher D. Cruz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5800-8505)
- Yocelinda Meza
- Gilda Troncos
- Nereyda Espinoza (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6159-7598)
- Logan J. Voegtly (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0580-3702)
- Matthew R. Lueder (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-7370-102X)
- Ana Pilar Ramos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0191-7024)
- Jesús Rojas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0912-490X)
- Hugo Umeres Cáceres (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3218-9050)
- Gregory K. Rice
- Kimberly A. Bishop‐Lilly (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5744-8493)
- Adrian C. Paskey (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4575-3092)
- Maria Cristina Carlan da Silva (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4081-8272)
- Alejandro Llanos‐Cuentas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7567-5534)
- Max Grögl
Institutions
- Leidos (United States) (US)
- Naval Medical Research Command (US)
- United States Army Medical Research and Development Command (US)
- United States Naval Medical Research Unit SOUTH (PE)
- Hospital Nacional Cayetano Heredia (PE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Microbiology Research
- Published
- 2024-09-08
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/microbiolres15030122
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Peripheral Neuropathies and Disorders
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.37
Funders
- Worldwide Universities Network
- Armed Forces Health Surveillance Branch