Simple, Rapid Mycobacterium ulcerans Disease Diagnosis from Clinical Samples by Fluorescence of Mycolactone on Thin Layer Chromatography.

Introduction: Mycobacterium ulcerans infection, known as Buruli ulcer, is a disease of the skin and subcutaneous tissues which is an important but neglected tropical disease with its major impact in rural parts of West and Central Africa where facilities for diagnosis and management are poorly developed. We evaluated fluorescent thin layer chromatography (f-TLC) for detection of mycolactone in the laboratory using samples from patients with Buruli ulcer and patients with similar lesions that gave a negative result on PCR for the IS2404 repeat sequence of M. ulcerans.

[Intestinal parasitoses in a village of Côte d'Ivoire. II: Relationship between intestinal parasitoses, physical and physiological development and child nutrition].

In a village situated at the border of the Ebrié lagoon, with economical problems, 343 school and preschool children, aged 4 to 15 (195 boys and 148 girls), considered by the school and their families to be in good health, were submitted for clinical and coproparasitologic examination. Basic clinical tests, anthropometric examination, spleen rate, nutrition status assessment (brachial perimeter of children aged 4 to 10 years) and the puberty level evaluation (using Tanner's scale) were independently completed. Splenomegaly rate among children between 4 and 9 years old was particularly important (78.

[Intestinal parasitoses in a village of Côte d'Ivoire. I: Control and prevention plan].

The goal was to develop a complex medical, hygienic, sanitary and educational plan for control and prevention of intestinal parasitic infections in the rural areas in Ivory Coast. In a village situated at the border of the Ebrié lagoon, 416 persons were examined: 371 children, of which 343 were school and preschool children, aged 4 to 15 years (195 boys and 148 girls), 28 young children aged 6 months to 3 years, and a group of 45 adults. The parasitologic exams included perianal swabs (Graham's method), stool examination using saline solution, iodized solution (Lugol) and preparation Kato-Miura's method in thick layer.