Background: It is crucial to consider cultural, religious, and socio-behavioural factors that may influence the acceptability of Minimally Invasive Tissues Sampling (MITS). MITS is being used to understand the causes of child death and conducted in nine countries within Africa and South Asia with the highest child mortality. Progress has been made in the development of laboratory infrastructures and training for physicians to do MITS, but many communities are concerned about the religious acceptability of taking samples from deceased children.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnexplained fever poses significant diagnostic challenges in resource-limited settings like Bamako, Mali, where overlapping endemic diseases include malaria, HIV/AIDS, yellow fever, typhoid, and others. This study aimed to elucidate the infectious etiologies of acute febrile illnesses in this context. Acute febrile patients of any age were enrolled after informed consent or assent.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Objectives: Developmental and epileptic encephalopathies (DEEs) are a group of neurological disorders characterized by early-onset seizures that are often resistant to treatment, by electroencephalographic abnormalities, and by developmental delay or regression. Their genetic basis remains largely unelucidated, especially in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). We investigated the genetic bases of DEE in three Malian families.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMeasles is vaccine-preventable extremely contagious disease caused by the measles virus. High vaccination coverage is needed to prevent outbreaks of disease. Although molecular surveillance of measles is critical to characterize outbreaks and track viral evolution, few whole-genome sequences of measles virus from West Africa are available despite continual outbreaks in the region.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF