Viral nucleic acids present in the plasma of 498 Kenyan adults with unexplained fever were characterized by metagenomics analysis of 51 sample pools. The highest to lowest fraction of plasma pools was positive for parvovirus B19 (75 %), pegivirus C (GBV-C) (67 %), alpha anellovirus (59 %), gamma anellovirus (55 %), beta anellovirus (41 %), dengue virus genotype 2 (DENV-2) (16 %), human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (6 %), human herpesvirus 6 (6 %), HBV (4 %), rotavirus (4 %), hepatitis B virus (4 %), rhinovirus C (2 %), Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV; 2 %) and Kadipiro virus (2 %). Ranking by overall percentage of viral reads yielded similar results. Characterization of viral nucleic acids in the plasma of a febrile East African population showed a high frequency of parvovirus B19 and DENV infections and detected a reovirus (Kadipiro virus) previously reported only in Asian Culex mosquitoes, providing a baseline to compare with future virome studies to detect emerging viruses in this region.

There was an error in the Results section of the published article.The samples from the plasma pool that yielded the Kadipiro virus (KDV) sequences using metagenomics were individually tested for KDV RNA using RT-nested PCR. All PCRs were negative using several primer sets. We are therefore unable to confirm the presence of KDV RNA in human plasma. The possible source of this contamination remains unidentified; KDV RNA may be a sporadic contaminant of one of the reagents or of the QIAamp Viral RNA Mini Kit (Qiagen) kit used.The authors apologize for any inconvenience.

BackgroundFever is common among patients seeking care in sub-Saharan Africa (sSA), but causes other than malaria are rarely diagnosed. We assessed dengue and chikungunya virus infections among young febrile adults evaluated for acute HIV infection (AHI) and malaria in coastal Kenya.MethodsWe tested plasma samples obtained in a cross-sectional study from febrile adult patients aged 18–35 years evaluated for AHI and malaria at urgent care seeking at seven health facilities in coastal Kenya in 2014–2015. Dengue virus (DENV) and chikungunya virus (CHIKV) were amplified using quantitative real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. We conducted logistic regression analyses to determine independent predictors of dengue virus infection.Results489 samples that were negative for both AHI and malaria were tested, of which 43 (8.8%, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 6.4–11.7) were positive for DENV infection. No participant was positive for CHIKV infection. DENV infections were associated with clinic visits in the rainy season (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 3.0, 95% CI: 1.3–6.5) and evaluation at a private health facility (AOR 5.2, 95% CI: 2.0–13.1) or research health facility (AOR = 25.6, 95% CI: 8.9–73.2) instead of a public health facility.ConclusionA high prevalence of DENV infections was found in febrile young adult patients evaluated for AHI. Our data suggests that DENV, along with AHI and malaria, should be considered in the differential diagnosis of the adult patient seeking care for fever in coastal Kenya.