Publications by authors named "S Tonks"

Article Synopsis
  • Enteric fever, caused by Salmonella enterica serovars Typhi and Paratyphi A, poses a significant public health issue due to rising antimicrobial resistance, complicating treatment options and worsening health outcomes.
  • *The study sequenced bacteria samples from blood cultures of febrile patients in urban sites of Dhaka (Bangladesh), Kathmandu (Nepal), and Blantyre (Malawi) to analyze their genetic characteristics and resistance mechanisms.
  • *Findings revealed that different genotypes of S. Typhi were present across the sites, with high rates of multidrug resistance in Blantyre and Dhaka but not in Kathmandu, highlighting diverse transmission dynamics and resistance patterns.
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RNAseq data can be used to infer genetic variants, yet its use for estimating genetic population structure remains underexplored. Here, we construct a freely available computational tool (RGStraP) to estimate RNAseq-based genetic principal components (RG-PCs) and assess whether RG-PCs can be used to control for population structure in gene expression analyses. Using whole blood samples from understudied Nepalese populations and the Geuvadis study, we show that RG-PCs had comparable results to paired array-based genotypes, with high genotype concordance and high correlations of genetic principal components, capturing subpopulations within the dataset.

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Background: Enteric fever is a serious public health concern in many low-income and middle-income countries. Numerous data gaps exist concerning the epidemiology of Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi (S Typhi) and Salmonella enterica serotype Paratyphi (S Paratyphi), which are the causative agents of enteric fever. We aimed to determine the burden of enteric fever in three urban sites in Africa and Asia.

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Background: Typhoid fever is a major public health problem in low-resource settings. Vaccination can help curb the disease and might reduce transmission. We have previously reported an interim analysis of the efficacy of typhoid conjugate vaccine (TCV) in Nepali children.

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The burden of Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi (S. Typhi) shedding in stool and its contribution to transmission in endemic settings is unknown. During passive surveillance S.

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