Publications by authors named "Essomba Rene"

Article Synopsis
  • M-pox is a rapidly spreading pathogen in developing countries, particularly in Cameroon, raising concerns about its health impact and the lack of data on its determinants.
  • A community-based study conducted in the Ayos Health District found a suspected M-pox case rate of 25%, with various factors like history of infections and contact with infected individuals or animals significantly linked to its prevalence.
  • The study highlights the need for enhanced surveillance and public health interventions in rural communities to better address the resurgence of M-pox.
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  • The study examined SARS-CoV-2 immunity in Cameroon from August 2021 to September 2022, assessing changes in antibody levels, mortality rates, and vaccination.
  • Seroprevalence surged from 11.2% to nearly 60% while COVID-19-related deaths dropped dramatically, indicating improved immunity without a corresponding rise in vaccinations.
  • The findings suggest that high vaccination rates may not be necessary for controlling outbreaks in Africa, urging policymakers to consider local research for better epidemic management strategies.
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Aim: Recent developments in cancer research indicate that cancer is a manifestation of immune system dysfunction. Many natural anticancer agents developed recently possess immune-modulatory properties. In our ongoing pursuit of anticancer alternatives, we evaluated the immune-modulatory potential of oligandrin, an ent-pimarane type diterpenoid from .

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Introduction: since the introduction of the anti-HBV vaccine into the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) in 2005 in Cameroon, vaccination coverage has reached 99.0%. This coverage would indicate an increase in the number of children immune to Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) and a decrease in susceptibility to HBV-infection.

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  • Cameroon experienced significant COVID-19 impact, but the real extent of SARS-CoV-2 infections was unclear during the pandemic's first wave.
  • A seroepidemiological survey conducted from October to December 2020 tested over 10,000 people across 10 regional capitals, revealing a seroprevalence of 10.5% among participants aged 5 and older.
  • The study indicated that there were over 2 million SARS-CoV-2 infections in these capitals, vastly outnumbering the official case count, emphasizing the need for ongoing serosurveys to better understand COVID-19 spread in areas with limited testing.
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Despite the availability for nearly twenty years of an effective vaccine, hepatitis B remains one of the most frequent viral diseases throughout the world. Mother-to-child transmission is one of the primary routes of transmission in children. To assess the vaccine response in children born to HBV infected mothers.

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While the SARS-CoV-2 dynamic has been described globally, there is a lack of data from Sub-Saharan Africa. We herein report the dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 lineages from March 2020 to March 2022 in Cameroon. Of the 760 whole-genome sequences successfully generated by the national genomic surveillance network, 74% were viral sub-lineages of origin and non-variants of concern, 15% Delta, 6% Omicron, 3% Alpha and 2% Beta variants.

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Introduction: HIV-1 and Mtb are characterized by immune activation and unbalances production of cytokines, but the expression of IL33 in HIV/TB coinfection remain understudied. This study aimed to evaluate the level of IL-33 in plasma of HIV and M. tuberculosis (HIV/TB) coinfected patients compared to patients with respective mono infections in Yaoundé.

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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a public health emergency in all sectors of society, including universities and other academic institutions in Cameroon. However, little is known concerning the real prevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections among student communities during the second wave of infection in Cameroon. This study aimed to estimate SARS-CoV-2 antibodies seroprevalence among participants in a university community in Cameroon.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study examined the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in Cameroon before the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on HIV-positive and HIV-negative individuals using 288 stored plasma samples.
  • Results showed an overall seropositivity of 13.5%, with a slightly lower rate among HIV-positive individuals (11.0%) compared to HIV-negative individuals (16.8%).
  • Additionally, higher CD4 counts and lower viral loads in people living with HIV were associated with increased seropositivity to SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, suggesting possible cross-immunity in tropical regions.
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  • A lot of money has been spent on studying the COVID-19 virus in Africa, leading to over 100,000 virus samples being analyzed to understand the spread of the disease.
  • *More countries in Africa are now able to do these studies themselves, which helps them get results faster and keep a close watch on the virus.
  • *To keep fighting COVID and other diseases, more funding and support for testing and research in Africa is really important for the future.
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Article Synopsis
  • Distinct SARS-CoV-2 lineage B.1.620 was identified in Lithuania, featuring multiple mutations in the spike protein commonly found in concerning variants like E484K and S477N.
  • The study highlights the lineage's potential resistance to neutralizing antibodies and documents local instances of transmission in Europe, particularly in Lithuania.
  • Evidence suggests that B.1.620 likely originated in Central Africa, supported by advanced phylogeographic methods and travel history data from infected individuals.
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Official case counts suggest Africa has not seen the expected burden of COVID-19 as predicted by international health agencies, and the proportion of asymptomatic patients, disease severity, and mortality burden differ significantly in Africa from what has been observed elsewhere. Testing for SARS-CoV-2 was extremely limited early in the pandemic and likely led to under-reporting of cases leaving important gaps in our understanding of transmission and disease characteristics in the African context. SARS-CoV-2 antibody prevalence and serologic response data could help quantify the burden of COVID-19 disease in Africa to address this knowledge gap and guide future outbreak response, adapted to the local context.

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Background: Renal dysfunctions are associated with increased morbidity and mortality in sickle cell disease (SCD). Early detection and subsequent management of SCD patients at risk for renal failure and dysfunctions are essential, however, predictors that can identify patients at risk of developing renal dysfunction are not fully understood.

Methods: In this study, we have investigated the association of 31 known kidney dysfunctions-related variants detected in African Americans from multi-ethnic genome wide studies (GWAS) meta-analysis, to kidney-dysfunctions in a group of 413 Cameroonian patients with SCD.

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  • Real-time PCR is the gold standard for detecting SARS-CoV-2, but its availability is limited in many countries, prompting the need for rapid diagnostic tests as alternatives.
  • A study in Cameroon evaluated the effectiveness of four antibody-based and one antigen-based rapid diagnostic tests for identifying COVID-19 in both symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals.
  • Of 1195 participants, the antigen test showed an 80% sensitivity within the first week of symptoms, while antibody tests had a lower sensitivity of 26.8% initially, improving to 76.4% after 14 days.
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The grading system for ultrasonographic assessment of Schistosoma mansoni morbidity is crucial for evaluation of control programs. This requires prior definition of normal liver organometric ranges in the population from the endemic area. A cross-sectional study was conducted in a S.

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Background: Currently, the management of ingrown toenail (onychocryptosis) ranges from conservative medical management to surgical treatment. Surgical management is typically performed as an outpatient procedure due to it numerous advantages such as the simplicity of the technique and the low incidence of postoperative complications. The most common postoperative complications are recurrences and surgical site infections, whereas gangrene complicating a surgical site infection has been scarcely reported.

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HIV-1 subtype G has played an early and central role in the emergent complexity of the HIV-1 group M (HIV-1M) epidemic in central/west Africa. Here, we analysed new subtype G env sequences sampled from 8 individuals in Yaoundé, Cameroon during 2007-2010, together with all publically available subtype G-attributed full-length env sequences with known sampling dates and locations. We inferred that the most recent common ancestor (MRCA) of the analysed subtype G env sequences most likely occurred in ∼1953 (95% Highest Posterior Density interval [HPD] 1939-1963): about 15 years earlier than previous estimates.

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