Publications by authors named "Arthur Edridge"

Unlabelled: After 3 years of its introduction to humans, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been declared as endemic. Little is known about the severity of the disease manifestation that future infections may cause, especially when reinfections occur after humoral immunity from a previous infection or vaccination has waned. Such knowledge could inform policymakers regarding the frequency of vaccination.

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  • Enteroviruses (EV) and parechoviruses A (PeV-A) can cause severe illnesses, but surveillance in sub-Saharan Africa has been limited and shows varying infection rates and genotypes.
  • This study is the first to analyze EV and PeV-A circulation specifically in children from South Sudan, finding 35% positive for EV and 10% for PeV-A in fecal samples.
  • The research highlighted the dominance of Coxsackie virus A (CVA) types, especially CVA13, and identified several new and diverse genotypes, underscoring the need for more comprehensive surveillance of these viruses in the region.
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Nodding syndrome is a neglected, disabling and potentially fatal epileptic disorder of unknown aetiology affecting thousands of individuals mostly confined to Eastern sub-Saharan Africa. Previous studies have identified multiple associations-including , antileiomodin-1 antibodies, vitamin B deficiency and measles virus infection-yet, none is proven causal. We conducted a case-control study of children with early-stage nodding syndrome (symptom onset <1 year).

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Objective: Mucopolysaccharidosis type IIIA (MPSIIIA) caused by recessive SGSH variants results in sulfamidase deficiency, leading to neurocognitive decline and death. No disease-modifying therapy is available. The AAVance gene therapy trial investigates AAVrh.

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  • A house-to-house survey in Mundri, South Sudan identified 224 cases of nodding syndrome (NS), with most patients experiencing multiple types of seizures and additional health issues like stunted growth and behavioral abnormalities.
  • The study found that eating rat meat was linked to an increased risk of NS, while children with NS were more likely to have taken the medication ivermectin in the past five years.
  • It was noted that children with NS face stigma due to the false belief that the condition can be transmitted through contact with others.
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Objectives: To assess whether viral, bacterial, metabolic, and autoimmune diseases are missed by conventional diagnostics among children with severe acute encephalopathy in sub-Saharan Africa.

Study Design: One hundred thirty-four children (6 months to 18 years) presenting with nontraumatic coma or convulsive status epilepticus to 1 of 4 medical referral centers in Uganda, Malawi, and Rwanda were enrolled between 2015 and 2016. Locally available diagnostic tests could be supplemented in 117 patients by viral, bacterial, and 16s quantitative polymerase chain reaction testing, metagenomics, untargeted metabolomics, and autoimmune immunohistochemistry screening.

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We investigated whether Ntwetwe virus-a novel orthobunyavirus discovered in a Ugandan girl with a fatal encephalopathy-was a common reason for hospital admission for children to Kiboga hospital, Uganda. A case-control was conducted between September 2019 and September 2020, including cases with severe neurological disease and mild febrile illness, matched to a healthy control without fever. Among 143 subjects, no cases with an acute infection were identified.

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Background: In patients with central nervous system (CNS) infections identification of the causative pathogen is important for treatment. Metagenomic next-generation sequencing techniques are increasingly being applied to identify causes of CNS infections, as they can detect any pathogen nucleic acid sequences present. Viromic techniques that enrich samples for virus particles prior to sequencing may simultaneously enrich ribosomes from bacterial pathogens, which are similar in size to small viruses.

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  • * High levels of antibodies against HCoV-OC43 were associated with a significantly lower likelihood of testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 compared to those with lower antibody levels.
  • * Results suggest that establishing immunity through past HCoV infections, particularly HCoV-OC43, could be valuable in the development of vaccines that target multiple coronaviruses.
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  • Nodding syndrome (NS) is a neurological disease predominantly affecting South Sudan, with a significant lack of understanding about its burden and risk factors in the region.
  • A house-to-house survey conducted over nearly two years revealed a 2.7% prevalence of NS among 22,411 people surveyed, with the highest cases found in Diko village (13.7%).
  • The study identified behaviors around rivers and exposure to poultry as risk factors, while having a mobile phone decreased the risk, highlighting the need for further investigation into the disease's causes and associations.
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Human coronavirus HKU1 (HCoV-HKU1) is one of the four endemic coronaviruses. It has been suggested that there is a difference in incidence, with PCR-confirmed HCoV-NL63 and HCoV-OC43 infections occurring more commonly, whereas HCoV-HKU1 is the least seen. Lower incidence of HCoV-HKU1 infection has also been observed in serological studies.

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A divergent rhabdovirus was discovered in the bloodstream of a 15-year-old girl with Nodding syndrome from Mundri West County in South Sudan. Nodding syndrome is a progressive degenerative neuropathy of unknown cause affecting thousands of individuals in Sub-Saharan Africa. The index case was previously healthy until she developed head-nodding seizures four months prior to presentation.

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Nodding syndrome (NS) is a debilitating yet often neglected neurological disease affecting thousands of children in several sub-Saharan African countries. The cause of NS remains unknown, and effective treatment options are lacking. Moreover, knowledge regarding NS is scarce and is based on a limited number of publications, with no comprehensive overview published to date.

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The Orthobunyavirus genus comprises a wide range of arthropod-borne viruses which are prevalent worldwide and commonly associated with central nervous system (CNS) disease in humans and other vertebrates. Several orthobunyaviruses have recently emerged and increasingly more will likely do so in the future. Despite this large number, an overview of these viruses is currently lacking, making it challenging to determine importance from a One Health perspective.

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A key unsolved question in the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is the duration of acquired immunity. Insights from infections with the four seasonal human coronaviruses might reveal common characteristics applicable to all human coronaviruses. We monitored healthy individuals for more than 35 years and determined that reinfection with the same seasonal coronavirus occurred frequently at 12 months after infection.

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Identifying the causative pathogen in central nervous system (CNS) infections is crucial for patient management and prognosis. Many viruses can cause CNS infections, yet screening for each individually is costly and time-consuming. Most metagenomic assays can theoretically detect all pathogens, but often fail to detect viruses because of their small genome and low viral load.

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A Ugandan child with an unexplained encephalitis was investigated using viral metagenomics. Several sequences from all segments of a novel orthobunyavirus were found. The S-segment, used for typing, showed 41% amino acid diversity to its closest relative.

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