Diagnosis of neuroinvasive astrovirus infection in an immunocompromised adult with encephalitis by unbiased next-generation sequencing

Abstract

Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (NGS) was used to diagnose an unusual and fatal case of progressive encephalitis in an immunocompromised adult presenting at disease onset as bilateral hearing loss. The sequencing and confirmatory studies revealed neuroinvasive infection of the brain by an astrovirus belonging to a recently discovered VA/HMO clade.

Keywords: VA/HMO astrovirus clade; deafness; encephalitis; next-generation sequencing; pathogen discovery.