Publications by authors named "A Messa"
Background: Treatments for soil-transmitted helminthiases face challenges, especially in addressing Trichuris trichiura. Combination regimens, particularly of ivermectin and albendazole, are promising. We aimed to assess the safety, efficacy, and palatability of a combination tablet for the treatment of T trichiura, hookworm, and Strongyloides stercoralis infections among school-aged children in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Mozambique.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPost rotavirus vaccine introduction in Mozambique (September 2015), we documented a decline in rotavirus-associated diarrhoea and genotypes changes in our diarrhoeal surveillance spanning 2008-2021. This study aimed to perform whole-genome sequencing of rotavirus strains from 2009 to 2012 (pre-vaccine) and 2017-2018 (post-vaccine). Rotavirus strains previously detected by conventional PCR as G2P[4], G2P[6], G3P[4], G8P[4], G8P[6], and G9P[6] from children with moderate-to-severe and less-severe diarrhoea and without diarrhoea (healthy community controls) were sequenced using Illumina MiSeq platform and analysed using bioinformatics tools.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- Enteric viruses are the main cause of diarrhea in children under 5, with rotavirus being a well-researched culprit in Mozambique, though other viruses lack data post-vaccine.
- The study investigated the prevalence of norovirus GI and GII, adenovirus 40/41, astrovirus, and sapovirus in children with varying severity of diarrhea before and after the introduction of the rotavirus vaccine.
- Results showed that all viruses, except norovirus GI, were detected more frequently after the vaccine's introduction, highlighting the importance of ongoing monitoring for these viruses to improve disease prevention strategies.
Background: Mozambique was one of many African countries with limited testing capacity for SARS-CoV-2. Serosurveys, an alternative to estimate the real exposure to understand the epidemiology and transmission dynamics, have been scarce in Mozambique. Herein, we aimed to estimate the age-specific seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in the general population of the Manhiça District, at four time points, for evaluating dynamics of exposure and the impact of vaccination.
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- Laboratories in the IB-VPD network must effectively identify the causes of pediatric bacterial meningitis through Gram stains and phenotypic methods, with data from the WHO's external quality assessments analyzed from 2014 to 2019.
- Results showed that only 63% of sentinel site and national labs correctly identified pathogens in 2019, with earlier assessments indicating challenges in Gram staining and culture identification.
- A strong quality management system is necessary to address performance gaps and to implement corrective measures for accurate pathogen detection.