Evolution and spread of Plasmodium falciparum mutations associated with resistance to sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine in central Africa: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Efficacy of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine, the malaria chemoprophylaxis used in pregnant women, and in children when combined with amodiaquine, is threatened by the accumulation of mutations in the Plasmodium falciparum dihydropteroate synthase (pfdhps) and dihydrofolate reductase (pfdhfr) genes. Data on the prevalence of resistant alleles in central Africa and the new pfdhps I431V mutation, particularly associated with other mutations to form the pfdhps vagKgs allele, are scarce. We explored the frequency and geographical distribution of pfdhps and pfdhfr mutations in central Africa in 2014-18, and assessed the evolutionary origin of the vagKgs allele.

Cotrimoxazole versus sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine for intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in HIV-infected pregnant women in Bangui, Central African Republic: A pragmatic randomised controlled trial.

Objective: The main objective of the MACOMBA (Maternity and Control of Malaria-HIV co-infection in Bangui) trial was to show that cotrimoxazole (CTX) is more effective than sulphadoxine-pyremethamine-IPTp (IPTp-SP) to prevent placental malaria infection (primary end point) among HIV-positive pregnant women with a CD4+ count ≥350 cells/mm in Bangui, CAR.

Methods: MACOMBA is a multicentre, open-label randomised trial conducted in four maternity hospitals in Bangui. Between 2013 and 2017, 193 women were randomised and 112 (59 and 53 in CTX and IPTp-SP arms, respectively) were assessed for placental infection defined by microscopic parasitaemia or PCR.

Molecular assessment of kelch13 non-synonymous mutations in Plasmodium falciparum isolates from Central African Republic (2017-2019).

Background: Over the last decade, artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) has contributed substantially to the decrease in malaria-related morbidity and mortality. The emergence of Plasmodium falciparum parasites resistant to artemisinin derivatives in Southeast Asia and the risk of their spread or of local emergence in sub-Saharan Africa are a major threat to public health. This study thus set out to estimate the proportion of P.

Validation of a New Rapid Detection Test for Detection of Neisseria meningitidis A/C/W/X/Y Antigens in Cerebrospinal Fluid.

Meningococcal meningitis remains a life-threatening disease worldwide, with high prevalence in the sub-Saharan meningitis belt. A rapid diagnosis is crucial for implementing adapted antimicrobial treatment. We describe the performances of a new immunochromatographic test (MeningoSpeed, BioSpeedia, France) for detecting and grouping Cerebrospinal fluids (CSFs) were collected from 5 African countries and France.

meningitis in the Central African Republic.

Burkholderia cepacia causes frequent infections in immunocompromised and hospitalized patients, with a significant mortality rate. This bacterial species has also been associated with epidemic outbreaks due to contamination of antiseptic solutions and parenteral and nebulized medications. In 2016, in the town of Bongonon in the north of the Central African Republic (CAR), a three-year-old boy with febrile meningeal syndrome (fever, neck stiffness and altered general condition) was admitted for a medical consultation provided by the nongovernmental organization MSF-Spain.

Epidemiologic pattern of meningococcal meningitis in northern Cameroon in 2007-2010: contribution of PCR-enhanced surveillance.

Objectives: Monitoring acute bacterial meningitis in northern Cameroon.

Methods: Health professionals collected cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimens from patients presenting with clinical symptoms of meningitis. Specimens were tested using gram stain, latex agglutination test, and culture.

Epidemiological phenotypic characteristics of vaginal yeasts at the Comoros.

The aim of the prospective, descriptive survey conducted in Moroni, Comoros was to establish the distribution of vulvovaginal mycoses in pregnant and symptomatic women and to study the epidemiological characteristics of the yeast isolates. All isolated strains were epidemiologically evaluated by phenotypical methods. Three phenotypic epidemiological studies were performed by morphotyping methods (including the colour reaction according to Quindòs et al.

Plasma virion reverse transcriptase activity and heat dissociation-boosted p24 assay for HIV load in Burkina Faso, West Africa.

Background: In resource-limited settings, the requirement for inexpensive, easy-to-perform viral load monitoring has increased with greater antiretroviral drug availability.

Objectives: To evaluate feasibility, in Burkina Faso, of a simple assay for plasma HIV reverse transcriptase (RT) activity quantification compared to heat dissociation-boosted (HDB) p24 antigen and RNA-based quantifications in plasma samples from HIV-infected patients.

Methods: : Plasma viraemia was quantified by RT activity, HDB-p24 and RNA copies in 84 samples from 70 HIV-1 group M-infected patients (82% non-B subtype, 93% treatment naive), including serial samples from nine patients.

Geographical distribution of HIV-1 group O viruses in Africa.

Objective: To determine to what extent HIV-1 group O strains are present in different African countries.

Materials And Methods: A total of 14,682 samples of sera from a range of patients from 12 different African countries were tested. All the sera were tested with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using a combination of V3 peptides from ANT-70 and MVP-5180.

[AIDS and HIV infection in the Federal Islamic Republic of Comores (1988-1995)].

Since 1991 AIDS and HIV infection in the Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros have been monitored through a network of sentinel sites including predetermined target populations. In all cases seropositivity for HIV was confirmed by western blotting after two ELISA screening tests. AIDS was diagnosed on Bangui clinical criteria and positive western blotting results.

A predictable comeback: the second pandemic of infections caused by Neisseria meningitidis serogroup A subgroup III in Africa, 1995.

Between 14 January and 4 April 1995 we isolated and characterized 44 meningococcal strains in Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Burkina Faso; among these was the strain A:4:P1.9/clone III-1, which was involved in the second meningitis pandemic. This isolate was found in the clonal form in Niger and strains of the ET-37 complex were also found in the other three study countries, but apparently did not cause epidemics.

[Anemia in infants less than 1 year old in Moundou, Chad: prevalence and etiology].

In order to evaluate the prevalence of anemia in infants under one year of age and ascertain the main etiologic factors, a survey was conducted in Moundou, Chad at the end of the rainy season. Tests were performed in 144 infants to determine hemoglobin levels, mean erythrocyte volume, transferrin saturation coefficient, serum iron level, Plasmodium positivity on blood smears, and nutritional status according to GOMEZ. Using the criteria defined by the World Health Organization, 139 infants were diagnosed as anemic including 19 cases classified as severe (hemoglobin level less than 5 g/dl).

[Importance of gastroscopy in chronic uremic patients (author's transl)].

In chronic uremic patient, two kinds of digestive troubles can occur: gastric or duodenal lesions secondary to an abnormal gastro-intestinal hormone excretion, and drug-induced disorders. Most of these manifestations were missed by usual barium meal and the use of routine endoscopic check-up can be particularly useful. We performed 70 gastroscopies in 67 chronic hemodialyze patients.