Seasonal Patterns of Enteric Pathogens in Colombian Indigenous People—A More Pronounced Effect on Bacteria Than on Parasites

Abstract

Enteric pathogens, which are frequently food- and waterborne transmitted, are highly abundant in Indigenous people living in remote rural areas of Colombia. As the frequency of gastroenteritis in the tropics shows seasonal differences, we analyzed variations of pathogen patterns in the stool samples of a Colombian Indigenous tribe called Wiwa during the dry (n = 105) and the rainy (n = 227) season, applying real-time PCR from stool samples and statistical analysis based on a multi-variable model. Focusing on bacterial pathogens, increased detection rates could be confirmed for enteropathogenic, enterotoxigenic and enteroaggregative Escherichia coli with a tendency for an increase in Campylobacter jejuni detections during the rainy season, while there was no seasonal effect on the carriage of Tropheryma whipplei. Salmonellae were recorded during the rainy season only. A differentiated pattern was seen for the assessed parasites. Entamoeba histolytica, Necator americanus and Trichuris trichiura were increasingly detected during the rainy season, but not Ascaris lumbricoides, Giardia duodenalis, Hymenolepis nana, Strongyloides stercoralis, and Taenia solium, respectively. Increased detection rates during the dry season were not recorded. Negative associations were found for Campylobacter jejuni and Giardia duodenalis with age and for Tropheryma whipplei with the body mass index, respectively. Positive associations of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli and Taenia solium detections were observed with age. In conclusion, facilitating effects of the tropical rainy season were more pronounced on bacterial enteric pathogens compared to enteropathogenic parasites.

Burden and Epidemiology of Human Intestinal Giardia duodenalis Infection in Colombia: A Systematic Review

“…Hence, their eligibility was assessed based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Finally, 23 articles were included in this systematic review [ 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 ]. The PRISMA Statement flow diagram, composed of four phases (identification, screening, eligibility, and inclusion) is shown in Figure 1 .…”

“…All selected articles were published in journals belonging to the Scimago Journal Ranking (SJR); more specifically, six articles were published in Q1 SJR journals [ 46 , 47 , 52 , 54 , 55 , 56 ], four articles in Q2 SJR journals [ 38 , 44 , 50 , 57 ], another five articles in Q3 SJR journals [ 41 , 48 , 49 , 51 , 58 ], and eight articles were found in a Q4 SJR journal [ 37 , 39 , 40 , 42 , 43 , 45 , 53 , 59 ]. Based on the JBI score rating system tool, 10 of the 23 selected articles were considered as high-quality scientific papers [ 38 , 44 , 46 , 47 , 50 , 52 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 ], while the other 13 studies were of moderate quality [ 37 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 45 , 48 , 49 , 51 , 53 , 58 , 59 ].…”

“…in various social groups of Colombians. Twelve studies were performed in rural settings [ 37 , 42 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 48 , 51 , 52 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 ], eight studies were conducted on urban citizens [ 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 43 , 47 , 49 , 53 ], and the last three studies were based on a specific combination of rural and urban people [ 50 , 54 , 55 ].…”

“…three-quarters of the papers (18 out of 23) were conducted on children or teenagers [ 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 48 , 50 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 ], Giardia infection in adults was investigated by Villalba-Vizcaíno et al [ 49 ], Carvajal-Restrepo et al [ 51 ] and Higuera et al [ 55 ]. The indigenous population was studied by Espinosa-Muñoz et al [ 42 ] and Kann et al [ 57 ]. Finally, the study of Espinosa Aranzales et al [ 47 ] was conducted on pregnant women.…”

Comparative Evaluation of Real-Time Screening PCR Assays for Giardia duodenalis and of Assays Discriminating the Assemblages A and B

“…After testing, samples showing PCR inhibition in the inhibition control PCR as detailed below were excluded from the assessments. For the subsequent comparison of the assemblage-specific duplex real-time PCR assays, 55 residual volumes of nucleic acid extractions from samples with positive screening PCR results for G. duodenalis from previous epidemiological studies [ 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 46 ] were applied. Inclusion criterion was that at least two out of three G. duodenalis -specific screening PCR assays provided a positive signal, making abundance of G. duodenalis DNA likely.…”