SCORPIO v.1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Seasonal Conjunctivitis Outbreak Reporting for Prevention and Improved Outcomes
IRAS ID
344615
Contact name
Wei Sing Lim
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
UCSF
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 9 months, 27 days
Research summary
Infectious conjunctivitis epidemics are a global burden. These epidemics lead to missed school days, missed workdays, and lost wages. In the pediatric population, conjunctivitis may herald more serious manifestations such as respiratory distress syndrome and gastroenteritis that lead to hospitalizations and even deaths.
While the etiology is often assumed to be adenovirus, other viruses, bacteria, and even fungi have also been implicated. In an ever interconnected world, emerging pathogens arising from natural disasters, animal to human transmissions, or co-infections create concern everywhere. Furthermore, these epidemics appear to be increasing.
Now, deep sequencing allows for rapid identification of any living organism in a clinical sample. The Proctor Lab routinely uses metagenomic deep sequencing (MDS) to detect infections and co-infections in an unbiased fashion, showing that worldwide surveillance and characterization of conjunctivitis epidemics are feasible.
This study will recruit patients with infective conjunctivitis in multiple centres spread over the world.
We are looking to determine how adenovirus genomes evolve over time and space during conjunctivitis outbreaks across the world. We want to identify unexpected causes or co-infections of seasonal and epidemic conjunctivitis. We want to identify the local immune response signatures of children and adults with infectious conjunctivitis.REC name
East of England - Cambridge South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
25/EE/0065
Date of REC Opinion
4 Apr 2025
REC opinion
Unfavourable Opinion