High Cryptococcal Antigenuria Prevalence in a Population of PLHIV with Neurological Symptoms Hospitalized in the Infectious Diseases Wards of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Libreville, Gabon.

Cryptococcal meningitis is a major cause of death in HIV/AIDS patients due to the existence of in the central nervous system. Our objective was to evaluate the prevalence of Cryptococcus antigenuria in a population of HIV-infected patients in Libreville, Gabon. : This study was conducted from April to October 2021 at the Infectious Diseases ward of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Libreville.

Implementation of a Clinical Decision Support System for Antimicrobial Prescribing in Sub-Saharan Africa: Multisectoral Qualitative Study.

Background: Suboptimal use of antimicrobials is a driver of antimicrobial resistance in West Africa. Clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) can facilitate access to updated and reliable recommendations.

Objective: This study aimed to assess contextual factors that could facilitate the implementation of a CDSS for antimicrobial prescribing in West Africa and Central Africa and to identify tailored implementation strategies.

Drug-induced hepatotoxicity and association with slow acetylation variants NAT2*5 and NAT2*6 in Cameroonian patients with tuberculosis and HIV co-infection.

Background: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and tuberculosis (TB) are major contributors to morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa including Cameroon. Pharmacogenetic variants could serve as predictors of drug-induced hepatotoxicity (DIH), in patients with TB co-infected with HIV. We evaluated the occurrence of DIH and pharmacogenetic variants in Cameroonian patients.

C-reactive protein and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein levels in asymptomatic intestinal parasite carriers from urban and rural areas of Gabon.

Background: Chronic carriage of intestinal parasitic infections (IPIs) can induce chronic inflammation and dysbiosis, which are risk factors for non-communicable diseases. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between IPI carriage and inflammation in a population of volunteers living in Gabon.

Methodology And Principal Findings: A cross-sectional study was conducted from September 2020 to November 2021 in asymptomatic volunteers aged 18 years old and over, residing in different areas of Gabon: Libreville (urban area) and Koula-Moutou and Bitam (rural areas).

Low diagnostic performance of thick blood smears of 50 µl in comparison with direct examination of 10 µl blood and the leukoconcentration technique of 5ml blood among loiasis-suspected patients with low microfilaremia in Gabon, Central Africa, using the STARD-BLCM guidelines.

Background: The aim of this study was to determine performance indicators of thick blood smears of 50 µl (TBS-50), following the Standards for the Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-Bayesian Latent Class Model (STARD-BLCM) guidelines. TBS-50 was compared with two common parasitological techniques-direct examination of 10 µl blood and a leukoconcentration of 5 ml-for the diagnosis of microfilaremic loiasis.

Methods: The study population was recruited among patients of the Department of Parasitology-Mycology-Tropical Medicine over a period of 1 year.

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.

Sociodemographics, Clinical Factors, and Biological Factors Associated with Loiasis in Endemic Onchocerciasis Areas in Southern Gabon.

To implement the appropriate strategies for scale-up interventions to eliminate onchocerciasis without severe adverse events, clinical and biological factors associated with loiasis were analyzed in onchocerciasis-endemic areas. Blood was collected from volunteers after examination by a physician. Detection of microfilariae and measurement of Ov16 IgG4 were performed using direct microscopic examination of blood and onchocerciasis rapid test detection, respectively.

Drug Resistance Molecular Markers of and Severity of Malaria in Febrile Children in the Sentinel Site for Malaria Surveillance of Melen in Gabon: Additional Data from the Plasmodium Diversity Network African Network.

The objective of this study was to analyze the relationship between the frequency of artemisinin-based combination (ACT) drug resistance molecular markers and clinical forms of malaria and parasitemia. A cross-sectional study was carried out between January and April 2014 at the Operational Clinical Research Unit of Melen in febrile children aged 12 to 240 months with a sp. infection.

Malaria and COVID-19 prevalence in a population of febrile children and adolescents living in Libreville.

Background: Patients with acute febrile illness need to be screened for malaria and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in malaria-endemic areas to reduce malaria mortality rates and to prevent the transmission of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

Objectives: To estimate the frequency of children and adolescents with COVID-19 and/or malaria among febrile patients attending for malaria diagnosis.

Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted in a sentinel site for malaria surveillance during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic (Omicron variant), from October 2021 to December 2021 in Gabon.

Performance of Field's Stain Compared with Conventional Giemsa Stain for the Rapid Detection of Blood Microfilariae in Gabon.

Filarial infections caused by Loa loa and Mansonella perstans are a considerable public health burden in rural regions of Central Africa. Rapid diagnostic tools for the detection of microfilariae in the blood are needed. Field's stain is a rapid staining technique for microscopic slides originally established for malaria diagnostics.

Early Alterations of QTc in Patients with COVID-19 Treated with Hydroxychloroquine or Chloroquine in Libreville, Gabon.

Unlabelled: The objective of this study was to analyze the effect of hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine associated with azithromycin on the QTc interval in Gabonese patients treated for COVID-19.

Methods: This was an observational study conducted from April to June 2020, at the Libreville University Hospital Center in Gabon. Patients admitted for COVID-19 and treated with hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine, each combined with azithromycin were included.

Circulating IL-6, IL-10, and TNF-alpha and IL-10/IL-6 and IL-10/TNF-alpha ratio profiles of polyparasitized individuals in rural and urban areas of gabon.

Malaria, blood-borne filarial worms and intestinal parasites are all endemic in Gabon. This geographical co-distribution leads to polyparasitism and, consequently, the possibility of immune-mediated interactions among different parasite species. Intestinal protozoa and helminths could modulate antimalarial immunity, for example, thereby potentially increasing or reducing susceptibility to malaria.

Allelic Diversity: A Comparison of DNA Extraction from Isolates Collected on Rapid Diagnostic Tests (Rdts) and Filter Paper.

Background: To perform molecular epidemiologic studies based on large cohorts, material such as RDTs or filter papers are useful for biological sample collection and extraction of RNA or DNA of good quality. Thus, we aimed to assess the quality of DNA extracted from malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) stored at various temperatures for the analysis of genetic diversity.

Methods: Febrile patients benefitted from free malaria diagnosis using microscopy in a malaria sentinel site, at the Regional Hospital Estuaire-Melen, in Gabon, in 2015.

Could pooled samples method affect SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis accuracy using BGI and Sansure-Biotech RT-PCR kits used in Gabon, Central Africa?

This study aims at establishing specimens pooling approach for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 using the RT-PCR BGI and Sansure-Biotech kits used in Gabon. To validate this approach, 14 positive samples, stored at -20°C for three to five weeks were analyzed individually (as gold standard) and in pools of five, eight and ten in the same plate. We created 14 pools of 5, 8 and 10 samples using 40 μL from each of the selected positive samples mixed with 4, 7 and 9 confirmed negative counterparts in a total volume of 200 μL, 320 μL and 400 μL for the pools of 5, 8 and 10 respectively.

Correction to: Persistence of High In Vivo Efficacy and Safety of Artesunate-Amodiaquine and Artemether-Lumefantrine as the First- and Second-Line Treatments for Uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum Malaria 10 Years After Their Implementation in Gabon.

Unfortunately two errors appeared in this article.

Persistence of High In Vivo Efficacy and Safety of Artesunate-Amodiaquine and Artemether-Lumefantrine as the First- and Second-Line Treatments for Uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum Malaria 10 Years After Their Implementation in Gabon.

Purpose: Artesunate-amodiaquine (AS-AQ) and artemether-lumefantrine (AL) have been widely used for the treatment of uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria since 2005 in Gabon. Since 2011, a rebound of malaria morbidity has been observed in this country, while no survey evaluating ACT efficacy was performed. During the same period, parasite resistance against artemisinin has been reported in Asia.

Increased Frequency of A581G Mutation in Isolates from Gabonese HIV-Infected Individuals.

Background: Studying malaria parasites cross resistance to sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (cotrimoxazole, CTX) is necessary in areas coendemic for malaria and HIV. Polymorphism and frequency of drug resistance molecular markers, and genes have been assessed in isolates from HIV-infected adults, in Gabon.

Materiel And Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in three HIV care and treatment centers, at Libreville, the capital city of Gabon and at Oyem and Koulamoutou, two rural cities between March 2015 and June 2016.

Baseline Mapping of Schistosomiasis and Soil Transmitted Helminthiasis in the Northern and Eastern Health Regions of Gabon, Central Africa: Recommendations for Preventive Chemotherapy.

In order to follow the Preventive Chemotherapy (PC) for the transmission control as recommended by WHO, Gabon initiated in 2014 the mapping of Schistosomiasis and Soil Transmitted Helminthiasis (STH). Here, we report the results of the Northern and Eastern health regions, representing a third of the land area and 12% of its total population. All nine departments of the two regions were surveyed and from each, five schools were examined with 50 schoolchildren per school.

Correction to: prevalence of and risk factors for malaria, filariasis, and intestinal parasites as single infections or co-infections in different settlements of Gabon, Central Africa.

Unfortunately, the original article [1] contained some errors. The table title of Tables 4, 5, 6, 7 were interchanged by mistake and displayed incorrectly in the article. The correct table titles of Tables 4, 5, 6, 7 can be found below.

Prevalence of and risk factors for malaria, filariasis, and intestinal parasites as single infections or co-infections in different settlements of Gabon, Central Africa.

Background: Malaria, filariasis, and intestinal parasitic infections (IPIs) are common and frequently overlap in developing countries. The prevalence and predictors of these infections were investigated in three different settlements (rural, semi-urban, and urban) of Gabon.

Methods: During cross-sectional surveys performed from September 2013 to June 2014, 451 individuals were interviewed.

Burden of asymptomatic malaria, anemia and relationship with cotrimoxazole use and CD4 cell count among HIV1-infected adults living in Gabon, Central Africa.

Unlabelled: Objective : This study determined the prevalence of asymptomatic Plasmodium (P.) falciparum infection and anemia in adults living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) and compared malaria prevalence between 858 HIV-infected (PLHIV) and 272 uninfected individuals in Gabon where such information are lacking. Factors influencing malaria and anemia were also investigated.

Submicroscopic Falciparum Malaria in Febrile Individuals in Urban and Rural Areas of Gabon.

AbstractCharacterization of the parasite reservoir is required to improve malaria control. Asymptomatic patients with subpatent parasitemia have been identified in Gabon, but the prevalence of such infections among febrile subjects is unclear. We assessed the prevalence of submicroscopic infections on an island (Port-Gentil), and in urban (Libreville), semiurban (Melen), and rural (Oyem) settings in Gabon.

Increased Prevalence of Mutant Allele Pfdhps 437G and Pfdhfr Triple Mutation in Plasmodium falciparum Isolates from a Rural Area of Gabon, Three Years after the Change of Malaria Treatment Policy.

In Gabon, sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) is recommended for intermittent preventive treatment during pregnancy (IPTp-SP) and for uncomplicated malaria treatment through ACTs drug. P. falciparum strains resistant to SP are frequent in areas where this drug is highly used and is associated with the occurrence of mutations on Plasmodium falciparum dihydrofolate reductase (Pfdhfr) and dihydropteroate synthetase (Pfdhps) genes.