Five successive waves of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the Central African Republic: a prospective observational study from 2020-2022.

Introduction: the National Laboratory of Clinical Biology and Public Health (NLBPH) in Bangui in the Central African Republic (CAR) carries out the vast majority of molecular screening tests for SARS-CoV-2 infection nationwide. This study aimed to show the contribution of molecular diagnosis and genomic surveillance in monitoring the evolution of longitudinal variations of the SARS-CoV-2 infection epidemic in CAR between 2020 and the end of 2022.

Methods: this is an observational study on the variations in the prevalence of detection of SARS-CoV-2 by RT-PCR at the NLCBPH from nasopharyngeal samples taken prospectively over a period of 3 years since the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Genetic diversity of HPV35 in Chad and the Central African Republic, two landlocked countries of Central Africa: A cross-sectional study.

Human Papillomavirus (HPV)-35 accounts for up 10% of cervical cancers in Sub-Saharan Africa. We herein assessed the genetic diversity of HPV35 in HIV-negative women from Chad (identified as #CHAD) and HIV-infected men having sex with men (MSM) in the Central African Republic (CAR), identified as #CAR. Ten HPV35 DNA from self-collected genital secretions (n = 5) and anal margin samples (n = 5) obtained from women and MSM, respectively, were sequenced using the ABI PRISM® BigDye Sequencing technology.

Seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies before and after implementation of anti-COVID-19 vaccination among hospital staff in Bangui, Central African Republic.

Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at high to very high risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection. The persistence of this pandemic worldwide has instigated the need for an investigation of the level of prevention through immunization and vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 among HCWs. The objective of our study was to evaluate any changes in anti-COVID-19 serological status before and after the vaccination campaign of health personnel in the Central African Republic.

Prospecting for yaws in the Mbaïki Health District in the Central African Republic.

Introduction: yaws is endemic in the Central African Republic. The last cases of yaws notified by CAR to WHO date back to 2012. The objective of this study was to measure the prevalence of yaws in the health district of Mbaïki and to describe its clinical and epidemiological characteristics.

Sero-prevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among communities between July and August 2022 in Bangui, Central African Republic.

Background: Large-scale population-based seroprevalence studies of SARS-CoV-2 are essential to characterize the cumulative incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection and to extrapolate the prevalence of presumptive immunity at the population level. Objective. The objective of our survey was to estimate the cumulative population immunity for COVID-19 and to identify individual characteristics associated with positive serostatus.

Young women who sell sex in Bangui, Central African Republic: a neglected group highly vulnerable to HIV.

Background: The objectives of this study were to determine the association between the vulnerability factors linked to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other sexually transmitted infection among the young women who sell sex (YWSS) group (15-24 years) and adult sex workers, engaged in consensual sex for money (AFSW).

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among AFSW involved in commercial sex transactions. Prevalence ratios (PR) analysis was carried out using log-binomial regression model.

Risk factors for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in the Central African Republic: A case-control study.

Background: The emergence and spread of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) presents a challenge to the "End TB by 2035" strategy. This study aimed to identify the risk factors associated with MDR-TB in patients admitted to the pneumo-physiology clinic of the National University Hospital of Bangui in Central African Republic.

Methods: This was a "retrospective" chart review study.

[Incidence of snakebites in rural communities living in the Paoua savannah and Mbaïki forest areas in Central African Republic].

Introduction: Snakebite is one of the most deadly neglected tropical diseases in Africa with more than 20,000 deaths reported each year. According to recent data from hospital in Central African Republic studies, the Paoua health district reports between 300 and 400 cases of ophidian envenomation each year. However, no epidemiological study on snakebites has been conducted at national level, nor a control strategy developed.

Incidence and risk factors for tuberculosis among people living with HIV in Bangui: A cohort study.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to determine the incidence and risk factors of tuberculosis (TB) among people living with HIV (PLHIV).

Methods: A cohort study was carried out in an HIV infection management centre in Bangui. PLHIV aged 18 or older, with no history of TB, enrolled between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2018 were included in the study.

Analytical performances of Exacto HIV self-test in the Central African Republic.

We herein evaluated the analytical performances of the CE-IVD capillary blood Exacto HIV self-test (Biosynex, Strasbourg, France) in the Central African Republic (CAR). A cross-sectional study was conducted on a representative national panel of 200 sera positive for HIV and 200 negative for HIV, randomly selected thorough the CAR for HIV seroprevalence surveillance survey, according to reference test. The Exacto HIV self-test showed 99.

Unexpected high frequency of unspecific reactivities by testing pre-epidemic blood specimens from Europe and Africa with SARS-CoV-2 IgG-IgM antibody rapid tests points to IgM as the Achilles heel.

We aimed to evaluate the rates of false-positive test results of three rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgM detection. Two serum panels from patients hospitalized in Paris, France, and from patients living in Bangui, Central African Republic, acquired before the 2019 COVID-19 outbreak, were tested by 3 CE IVD-labeled RDTs for SARS-CoV-2 serology (BIOSYNEX® COVID-19 BSS [IgG/IgM]; SIENNA™ COVID-19 IgG/IgM Rapid Test Cassette; NG-Test® IgG-IgM COVID-19). Detectable IgG or IgM reactivities could be observed in 31 (3.

HSV-2 Infection as a Potential Cofactor for HIV Disease Progression and Selection of Drug Resistance Mutations in Adults under WHO-Recommended First-Line Antiretroviral Therapy: A Multicentric, Cross-Sectional Study in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, and Gabon.

Although herpes simplex virus-2 (HSV-2) infection is a known cofactor for HIV transmission in Central Africa, its role in HIV disease progression is unclear. The aim of this study was to examine the potential link between HSV-2 infection and HIV disease progression, in addition to identifying the presence of genes conferring HIV antiretroviral resistance mutations. This was a cross-sectional study involving 302 HIV-infected adults in Central Africa with virological failure (viral load >1000 copies/mL) on first-line antiretroviral therapy from four different countries.

Purifying Selection in Human Immunodeficiency Virus-1 Gene in Perinatally Human Immunodeficiency Virus-1-Infected Children Harboring Discordant Immunological Response and Virological Nonresponse to Long-Term Antiretroviral Therapy.

Background: Biological monitoring of antiretroviral treatment (ART) in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected pediatric population remains challenging. The aim of the present study was to assess the long-term HIV-1 genetic diversity in gene in HIV-1-infected children in virological failure under antiretroviral regimen adapted according to the successive World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for resource-constrained settings.

Methods: HIV-1 diversity in gene was assessed in HIV-1-infected children and adolescents born from HIV-infected mothers (median age at follow-up: 13.

Escalating and sustained immunovirological dissociation among antiretroviral drug-experienced perinatally human immunodeficiency virus-1-infected children and adolescents living in the Central African Republic: A STROBE-compliant study.

Sub-Saharan Africa has the vast majority (∼90%) of new pediatric acquired immunodeficiency syndrome cases worldwide. Biologically monitoring HIV-infected pediatric populations remains challenging. The differential interest of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 RNA loads and CD4 T-cell counts is debated for the treatment of pediatric acquired immunodeficiency syndrome patients.

Infrequent detection of human papillomavirus infection in head and neck cancers in the Central African Republic: a retrospective study.

We carried out a retrospective study on the prevalence of HPV and genotype distribution by nested PCR and nucleotide sequencing analysis, in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded biopsies of 135 head and neck cancers (HNC) and 29 cervical cancers received between 2009 and 2017 for diagnosis at the Laboratoire National de Biologie Clinique et de Santé Publique of Bangui, the capital city of the Central African Republic. One oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma sample was positive for HPV type 16. The overall HPV prevalence in HNC biopsies was 0.

High predictive efficacy of integrase strand transfer inhibitors in perinatally HIV-1-infected African children in therapeutic failure of first- and second-line antiretroviral drug regimens recommended by the WHO.

Objectives: The predictive efficacy of integrase (IN) strand transfer inhibitors (INSTIs) was investigated in HIV-infected children born to HIV-infected mothers in Africa.

Methods: Plasma was collected at the Complexe Pédiatrique of Bangui, Central African Republic, from INSTI-naive children (n = 8) and adolescents (n = 10) in virological failure (viral load >1000 copies/mL) after 5 years of first- and/or second-line combination ART (cART). IN, reverse transcriptase (RT) and protease (P) genes were genotyped and drug resistance mutations (DRMs) to INSTIs, NRTIs, NNRTIs and PIs were interpreted using the Stanford algorithm.

Persistent high-risk behavior and escalating HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B incidences among men who have sex with men living in Bangui, Central African Republic.

Introduction: HIV in sub-Saharan Africa remains a great concern in men who have sex with men (MSM). Intervention on MSM is a key strategy to control the burden of HIV among this population. Herein we assessed the effect of 2 years of HIV testing and counseling on risk-tacking and HIV and STI incidences among MSM living in Bangui in the Central African Republic.

Unusual and unique distribution of anal high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) among men who have sex with men living in the Central African Republic.

Background: High-risk (HR) human papillomavirus (HPV) infection remains a great concern in relation to African men who have sex with men (MSM), especially those infected with HIV. The prevalence of HR-HPV and associated risk factors was estimated in a cross-sectional observational study covering MSM living in Bangui, Central African Republic.

Methods: MSM receiving care at the Centre National de Référence des Infections Sexuellement Transmissibles et de la Thérapie Antirétrovirale, Bangui, were included.

Usefulness of simultaneous screening for HIV-specific and HCV-specific antibodies and HBsAg by a capillary-based multiplex rapid diagnostic test to strengthen linkage-to-care in sub-Saharan patients attending sexually transmitted infection clinic.

Adult outpatients attending the main sexually transmitted infection clinic of Bangui, Central African Republic, were prospectively subjected to a multiplex rapid diagnostic test for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and hepatitis C virus (HCV). In group I (n = 208) of patients already followed for HIV, 6 (2.9%) were unexpectedly negative, thus corresponding to false positive for HIV by the national HIV algorithm; hepatitis B surface antigen and HCV positivities were high (18.

A brief review on features of falciparum malaria during pregnancy.

Malaria in pregnancy is a serious public health problem in tropical areas. Frequently, the placenta is infected by accumulation of infected erythrocytes in the intervillous space. Falciparum malaria acts during pregnancy by a range of mechanisms, and chronic or repeated infection and co-infections have insidious effects.

Task-shifting of CD4 T cell count monitoring by the touchscreen-based Muse™ Auto CD4/CD4% single-platform system for CD4 T cell numeration: Implication for decentralization in resource-constrained settings.

Background: The accuracy of CD4 T cell monitoring by the recently developed flow cytometry-based CD4 T cell counting Muse™ Auto CD4/CD4% Assay analyzer (EMD Millipore Corporation, Merck Life Sciences, KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany) was evaluated in trained lay providers against laboratory technicians.

Methods: After 2 days of training on the Muse™ Auto CD4/CD4% analyzer, EDTA-blood samples from 6 HIV-positive and 4 HIV-negative individuals were used for CD4 T cell counting in triplicate in parallel by 12 trained lay providers as compared to 10 lab technicians.

Results: Mean number of CD4 T cells in absolute number was 829 ± 380 cells/μl by lay providers and 794 ± 409 cells/μl by technicians (P > 0.

Acceptability and Usability Evaluation of Finger-Stick Whole Blood HIV Self-Test as An HIV Screening Tool Adapted to The General Public in The Central African Republic.

Background: Opportunities for HIV testing could be enhanced by offering HIV self-testing (HIVST) in populations that fear stigma and discrimination when accessing conventional HIV counselling and testing. Field experience with HIVST was poorly reported in French-speaking African countries.

Objective: To investigate the usability of HIVST in Bangui, Central African Republic.

Risk factors for HIV infection among female sex workers in Bangui, Central African Republic.

Objective: The aims of the study were i) to categorize female sex workers (FSW) according to socio-anthropologic criteria in Bangui; ii) to examine the association between a selection of demographic and risk variables with the different categories of female sex work as outcome, and iii) to investigate factors associated with HIV status.

Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted to describe the spectrum of commercial sex work in Bangui among 345 sexually active women. After collection of social and behavioral characteristics, each woman received a physical examination and a blood sample was taken for biological analyses, including HIV testing.