# Epidemiology and impact of diverse Campylobacter species in low-resource settings

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA · 2024 · $397,651

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Recent research has identified a strong association between Campylobacter and chronic malnutrition,
evidenced by linear growth faltering, in children in low-resource settings. However, the importance of individual
Campylobacter species and the mechanism underlying this association have not been defined. Meanwhile,
comprehensive water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) interventions have failed to improve linear growth or
even to reduce Campylobacter prevalence. A better understanding of the epidemiology and burden of
Campylobacter infections as well as the reservoirs and pathways for exposure to diverse Campylobacter
infections is needed to guide next-generation WASH studies and other interventions to reduce stunting, and
the specific pathways underlying the association between Campylobacter and poor linear growth need to be
identified. Our group has pioneered the application of quantitative molecular diagnostics for a broad range of
pathogens to studies of diarrhea etiology and the impact of enteric infections on growth. These studies have
revealed the limitations of bacterial culture, which has obscured characterization of the prevalence and
importance of diverse Campylobacter species. We have developed a high-throughput, culture-independent
diagnostic approach using targeted long-read next generation sequencing, which reveals a broad diversity of
Campylobacter species in children in these settings, including a strikingly high prevalence of C. hyointestinalis,
more than twice as prevalent as C. jeuni in our birth cohort in Tanzania. In Aim 1, we will apply this diagnostic
approach to describe the epidemiology and impact of Campylobacter species in children in three low-resource
settings, using previously archived DNA from stool samples collected from the multisite MAL-ED birth cohort
study in Loreto, Peru, Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Haydom, Tanzania. This will establish the species-specific
prevalence, species-specific attributable incidence of diarrhea, risk factors, and association with poor linear
growth. In Aim 2, we will characterize Campylobacter species infections in a larger birth cohort in Haydom,
Tanzania to validate the associations with growth identified in Aim 1 and to define mechanisms underlying
these associations. We will specifically test the hypothesis that impaired gut motility driven by an immune
response to cytolethal distending toxin B and associated small intestinal bacterial overgrowth is associated
with poor linear growth. We will define the relative importance of this mechanism compared to other possible
pathways. In Aim 3, we will establish a transmission cohort in Haydom, Tanzania to understand the major
reservoirs of and pathways for Campylobacter infections in this rural African setting. In total, this work will
establish the

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10847338
- **Project number:** 5R01AI153254-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
- **Principal Investigator:** James Alexander Platts-Mills
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $397,651
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-06-01 → 2026-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10847338

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10847338, Epidemiology and impact of diverse Campylobacter species in low-resource settings (5R01AI153254-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10847338. Licensed CC0.

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