Metagenomic Tools to Redefine the Etiology of Pediatric Meningitis in the African Meningitis Belt

Kanny Diallo of the Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d'Ivoire will use metagenomic sequencing to investigate the etiological diversity of meningitis in Mali, Guinea, and Côte d’Ivoire, three countries in the so-called African meningitis belt, to improve diagnosis and public health responses. The African meningitis belt stretches from Senegal to Ethiopia and has the highest burden of meningitis worldwide. Meningitis can be caused by many different types of pathogens (bacteria, virus, fungi, and parasites), which vary between countries. Although 35 meningitis-causing pathogens are detectable by current PCR-based techniques, over 80% of cases remain undiagnosed suggesting that other pathogens are involved. They will perform a prospective study by collecting 65 cerebrospinal fluid samples from children under 5 years old with suspected meningitis and apply an unbiased metagenomic approach to identify both known and unknown pathogens. Their results will also help inform the design of new vaccines.