EMD Seminar Series: Steven Schiff, "Neonatal Paenibacilliosis: A Newly Discovered Cause of Sepsis and Hydrocephalus in African Infants"

Worldwide, the largest cohort of new cases of pediatric hydrocephalus acquire hydrocephalus after infection. In most cases we do not know the causative agents or the infectious history prior to hydrocephalus. In Uganda, we have found that the most common organism associated with postinfectious hydrocephalus was a novel strain of Paenibacillus thiaminolyticus, deriving from a newly described neonatal sepsis syndrome – Neonatal Paenibacilliosis. The organism is highly neurotropic and the mortality in neonates is high. The risk of infection is environmentally driven and correlates with rainfall. We are actively engaged in field work to track down the environmental sources and routes of infection, expansion of PCR surveillance, and spatiotemporal modeling to predict diagnosis and optimize treatment at point of care.

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