Mr. Ayodeji Emmanuel Ogunbayo, a Ph.D postgraduate affiliated to the UFS-NGS Unit and Division of Virology was one of the key speakers at Faculty Research Forum on 26 August 2022. Mr. Ogunbayo spoke on the utility of metagenomic NGS (mNGS) in the diagnosis of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) in pediatric patients. The study outlines the increased applicability of mNGS compared to traditional methods such as culture and PCR in detection of viral pathogens in Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) cases.
The initial data from this study has been published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/16/10418. Although mNGS for clinical diagnosis is relatively expensive, its clinical value and utility cannot be overlooked, especially in severe respiratory cases where increased mortality and morbidity are often documented. The metagenomics diagnostic applicability data is currently being packaged for submission at the Journal of Medical Virology.
