An Invasive Haemophilus Influenzae Serotype B Infection in an Anglo-Saxon Plague Victim

Guellil, Meriam; Keller, Marcel; Dittmar, Jenna; Inskip, Sarah; Cressford, Craig; Solnik, Anu; Kivisild, Toomas; Metspalu, Mait; Robb, John; Scheib, Christiana (2022). An Invasive Haemophilus Influenzae Serotype B Infection in an Anglo-Saxon Plague Victim. Genome biology, 23(1), p. 22. BioMed Central Ltd. 10.1186/s13059-021-02580-z

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Background: The human pathogen Haemophilus influenzae was the main cause of
bacterial meningitis in children and a major cause of worldwide infant mortality
before the introduction of a vaccine in the 1980s. Although the occurrence of
serotype b (Hib), the most virulent type of H. influenzae, has since decreased, reports
of infections with other serotypes and non-typeable strains are on the rise. While
non-typeable strains have been studied in-depth, very little is known of the
pathogen’s evolutionary history, and no genomes dating prior to 1940 were
available.
Results: We describe a Hib genome isolated from a 6-year-old Anglo-Saxon plague
victim, from approximately 540 to 550 CE, Edix Hill, England, showing signs of
invasive infection on its skeleton. We find that the genome clusters in phylogenetic
division II with Hib strain NCTC8468, which also caused invasive disease. While the
virulence profile of our genome was distinct, its genomic similarity to NCTC8468
points to mostly clonal evolution of the clade since the 6th century. We also
reconstruct a partial Yersinia pestis genome, which is likely identical to a published
first plague pandemic genome of Edix Hill.
Conclusions: Our study presents the earliest genomic evidence for H. influenzae,
points to the potential presence of larger genomic diversity in the phylogenetic
division II serotype b clade in the past, and allows the first insights into the
evolutionary history of this major human pathogen. The identification of both plague
and Hib opens questions on the effect of plague in immunocompromised
individuals already affected by infectious diseases.

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