V4 16S data from Campylobacter Abundance in Breastfed Infants and Identification of a New Species in the Global Enterics Multicenter Study

Campylobacter is the primary cause of bacterial diarrhea in the UnitedStates and can lead to the development of the postinfectious autoimmune neuropathyknown as Guillain-Barre syndrome. Also, drug-resistant campylobacters are becominga serious concern both locally and abroad. In low- and middle-income countries(LMICs), infection with Campylobacter is linked to high rates of morbidity,growth stunting, and mortality in children, and breastfeeding is important for infantnutrition, development, and protection against infectious diseases. In this study, weexamined the relationship between breastfeeding and Campylobacter infection anddemonstrate the increased selection for C. jejuni and C. coli strains unable to metabolizefucose. We also identify a new Campylobacter species coinfecting these infantswith a high prevalence in five of the seven countries in sub-Saharan Africa andSouth Asia examined. These findings indicate that more detailed studies are neededin LMICs to understand the Campylobacter infection process in order to devise astrategy for eliminating this pathogenic microbe.

弯曲杆菌（Campylobacter）是美国细菌性腹泻的首要致病菌，还可引发感染后自身免疫性神经病——吉兰-巴雷综合征（Guillain-Barre syndrome）。此外，耐药性弯曲杆菌在美国国内及海外均已成为严峻的公共卫生隐患。在中低收入国家（Low- and Middle-Income Countries, LMICs）中，弯曲杆菌感染与儿童的高发病率、生长迟缓及高死亡率密切相关；而母乳喂养对婴儿的营养供给、生长发育以及抵御传染病均具有重要意义。本研究探究了母乳喂养与弯曲杆菌感染之间的关联，并证实了对无法代谢岩藻糖（fucose）的空肠弯曲杆菌（C. jejuni）与结肠弯曲杆菌（C. coli）菌株的选择压力显著增强。本研究还鉴定出一种全新的弯曲杆菌菌种，在本次研究涉及的撒哈拉以南非洲与南亚的7个国家中，有5个国家的婴儿共感染该菌种的检出率较高。上述研究结果表明，在中低收入国家中需开展更为深入的研究以阐明弯曲杆菌的感染过程，进而制定出根除这种致病微生物的防控策略。