Publications by authors named "Jeanne d'arc Umuringa"
Article Synopsis
- The East African Community (EAC) faces significant challenges in addressing infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance (AMR), highlighting an urgent need for improved pathogen genomics capabilities across its member states.
- A study showed stark differences in how EAC countries utilize bacterial pathogen sequencing; nearly all quality genome data (97%) was processed by external organizations, primarily outside of Africa, with Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda leading in local sequencing efforts.
- Key obstacles include a lack of local sequencing facilities, limited bioinformatics skills, insufficient computing resources, and weak data-sharing practices, all of which hinder the region's public health laboratories from effectively using pathogen genomics for AMR surveillance and outbreak response.
Article Synopsis
- - This study analyzes 203 whole genome sequences of SARS-CoV-2 from Rwanda between May 2020 and February 2021, revealing a shift towards the A.23.1 sub-lineage, which is now the dominant strain.
- - The research also identified the first cases of the concerning B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 variants among travelers arriving at Kigali International Airport.
- - It emphasizes the significant role of neighboring countries in introducing new cases to Rwanda and calls for ongoing genomic surveillance and regional cooperation to effectively tackle COVID-19.
Background: Estimates of influenza-associated hospitalization are severely limited in low- and middle-income countries, especially in Africa.
Objectives: To estimate the national number of influenza-associated severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) hospitalization in Rwanda.
Methods: We multiplied the influenza virus detection rate from influenza surveillance conducted at 6 sentinel hospitals by the national number of respiratory hospitalization obtained from passive surveillance after adjusting for underreporting and reclassification of any respiratory hospitalizations as SARI during 2012-2014.