Unexplained diarrhoea in HIV-1 infected individuals

Oude Munnink, Bas B; Canuti, Marta; Deijs, Martin; de Vries, Michel; Jebbink, Maarten F; Rebers, Sjoerd; Molenkamp, Richard; van Hemert, Formijn J; Chung, Kevin; Cotten, Matthew; Snijders, Fransje; Sol, Cees JA; van der Hoek, Lia

Among the viruses which were detected via VIDISCA-454, there are several candidates that might be involved in the patients' diarrhoea. We focused on the most likely candidates to be involved in intestinal malfunctioning: human gyrovirus, cryptosporidium parvum-virus, Aichi virus and cosavirus, together with the new IAS virus and the unexpected NANBH virus. For these viruses a diagnostic PCR assay was developed (see Additional file 1: Table S1 for primer sequences). Of note, TTV and picobirnavirus, found by VIDISCA-454, were not included in the screening. Both virus families are extremely diverse and it is difficult, if not impossible, to develop proper diagnostic primers that can detect all variants. Furthermore, in literature TTVs have not been related to gastrointestinal disease.