Identifying the culprit responsible for
enteric fever
A new method to find out which species of Salmonella bacteria are responsible for cases of enteric fever in humans has been developed.
Enteric fever is estimated to affect over 37 million people every year. Although it is treatable with antimicrobial drugs, a slow and/or incorrect diagnosis can result in serious and often life-threatening complications.
Enteric fever is the combined name for typhoid fever and paratyphoid fever. While the symptoms of these diseases are indistinguishable, the strains of Salmonella bacteria that cause them are genetically distinct. Moreover, the two organisms that cause the disease have different tendencies to develop resistance to antimicrobials. It is important, therefore, to be able to distinguish between typhoid fever and paratyphoid fever so that the correct treatment can be prescribed. However, the diagnostic tools available today struggle to discriminate between Salmonella Typhi (which causes typhoid fever) and Salmonella Paratyphi A (which causes paratyphoid fever).
Now, Elin Näsström and colleagues have developed a method that can determine if an individual is infected by Salmonella Typhi or Salmonella Paratyphi A, or neither. Rather than trying to detect the bacteria themselves, the test relies on measuring the levels of various metabolites — molecules produced during metabolism — in the blood. Näsström and colleagues discovered a set of six metabolites that are affected in different ways by typhoid and paratyphoid fever. The next challenge is to develop this approach so it can be used in endemic settings.
To find out more
Read the eLife research paper on which this story is based: “Salmonella Typhi and Salmonella Paratyphi A elaborate distinct systemic metabolite signatures during enteric fever” (June 5, 2014).
Read a commentary on this research paper: “Host-pathogen interactions: Honing in on enteric fever”.
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