The Bacterial and Viral Complexity of Postinfectious Hydrocephalus in Uganda

Postinfectious hydrocephalus (PIH), often following neonatal sepsis, is the most common cause of pediatric hydrocephalus world-wide, yet the microbial pathogens remain uncharacterized. We examined blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from 100 consecutive cases of PIH and control cases of non-postinfectious hydrocephalus (NPIH) in infants in Uganda. Genomic testing was undertaken for bacterial, fungal, and parasitic DNA, DNA and RNA sequencing for viral identification, and extensive bacterial culture recovery. We uncovered a major contribution to PIH from Paenibacillus with 16srRNA sequencing technology, upon a background of frequent cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. Associated with this Project, we uploaded 100 CSF samples with following sequencing: 1) 16srRNA region V1-V2 (100 CSF samples and 15 water and NTC controls) 2) 16srRNA region V4 (29 samples from above 100 CSF samples) 3) RNA with host in-silicon deplete seq for virus detection (100 CSF samples) 4) VirCap Seq for virus detection (100 CSF samples) In summary, total 344 SRAs (100 16srRNA V12; 29 16srRNA V4; 100 RNA; 100 Vircap Seq; 15 water and NTC for 16srRNA V12) were submitted to NCBI.