Big data, biomarkers and proteomics: informing childhood diarrhoeal disease management in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Abstract

Despite efforts to reduce the global burden of childhood diarrhoea, 50% of all cases globally occur in children under five years in Low–Income and Middle- Income Countries (LMICs) and knowledge gaps remain regarding the aetiological diagnosis, introduction of diarrhoeal vaccines, and the role of environmental enteric dysfunction and severe acute malnutrition. Biomarkers may assist in understanding disease processes, from diagnostics, to management of childhood diarrhoea and the sequelae to vaccine development. Proteomics has the potential to assist in the identification of new biomarkers to understand the processes in the development of childhood diarrhoea and to aid in developing new vaccines. Centralised repositories that enable mining of large data sets to better characterise risk factors, the proteome of both the patient and the different diarrhoeal pathogens, and the environment, could inform patient management and vaccine development, providing a systems biological approach to address the burden of childhood diarrhoea in LMICs.

Keywords

• childhood diarrhoea
• infectious diarrhoea
• gastroenteritis
• biomarkers
• proteomics
• vaccines