Country adoption of WHO 2019 guidance on HIV testing strategies and algorithms: a policy review across the WHO African region.

Objectives: In 2019, the WHO released guidelines on HIV testing service (HTS). We aim to assess the adoption of six of these recommendations on HIV testing strategies among African countries.

Design: Policy review.

Demonstration of the diagnostic agreement of capillary and venous blood samples, using hepatitis-C virus SD Bioline rapid test: A clinic-based study.

Background: Simplifying hepatitis C virus (HCV) screening is a key step in achieving the elimination of HCV as a global public health threat by 2030.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to demonstrate the agreement of capillary blood and venipuncture specimens when using SD Bioline HCV, a low-cost rapid diagnostic test (RDT), prequalified by WHO in 2016 on venous blood samples.

Study Design: Recruitment was conducted prospectively among adult patients presenting for HCV testing at the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) clinic of Preah Kossamak Hospital (Phnom Penh, Cambodia) between October and November 2017.

Dual screen and confirm rapid test does not reduce overtreatment of syphilis in pregnant women living in a non-venereal treponematoses endemic region: a field evaluation among antenatal care attendees in Burkina Faso.

Objectives: In resource-limited settings, screening pregnant women for syphilis using rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) is a key tool in the prevention of congenital syphilis. However, most syphilis RDTs detect only treponemal antibodies (T-RDT), meaning antibiotics may be provided unnecessarily to previously treated pregnant women, particularly in non-venereal treponematoses endemic regions. We estimated the potential reduction in overtreatment when comparing T-RDT (SD Bioline) to a newer rapid test (Dual Path Platform (DPP) Screen and Confirm Assay, Chembio) detecting both treponemal and non-treponemal antibodies.

Field evaluation of GeneXpert (Cepheid) HCV performance for RNA quantification in a genotype 1 and 6 predominant patient population in Cambodia.

GeneXpert (Cepheid) is the only WHO prequalified platform for hepatitis C virus (HCV) nucleic acid amplification testing that is suitable for point-of-care use in resource-limited contexts. However, its application is constrained by the lack of evidence on genotype 6 (GT6) HCV. We evaluated its field performance among a patient population in Cambodia predominantly infected with GT6.

Four years of case-based surveillance of meningitis following the introduction of MenAfriVac in Moissala, Chad: lessons learned.

Objective: Case-based surveillance of bacterial meningitis in sentinel districts has been recommended after the introduction of the conjugated vaccine against Neisseria meningitidis serogroup A (NmA), MenAfriVac, in the African meningitis belt. Here we report data and lessons learnt from four years of surveillance in the district of Moissala, Chad.

Methods: All suspected cases of meningitis were referred free of charge to the district hospital for lumbar puncture and treatment.