Seroprevalence of hepatitis B virus markers of infection and immunity among people living in Libreville, Gabon.

Objectives: In Gabon, data on hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection are limited to hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) detection among specific populations and rural regions. This is the first study aimed at determining the seroprevalence of HBV markers among the Gabonese population.

Methods: A retrospective study was conducted from January 2002 through December 2022.

SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Seroprevalence in Gabon: Findings from a Nationwide Household Serosurvey in a Sub-Saharan Africa Country.

Seroconversion surveys of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies provide accurate estimates of the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infections. This nationwide population-based cross-sectional serosurvey aimed to evaluate the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among residents in Gabon and compare the estimated cumulative number of COVID-19 cases with the officially registered number of laboratory-confirmed cases up to December 2021. Households in each province were randomly selected.

HIV protease resistance mutations in patients receiving second-line antiretroviral therapy in Libreville, Gabon.

Introduction: In 2022, the WHO reported that 29.8 million people around the world were living with HIV (PLHIV) and receiving antiretroviral treatment (ART), including 25‌ 375 people in Gabon (54% of all those living with HIV in the country). The literature reports a frequency of therapeutic failure with first-line antiretrovirals (ARVs) of between 20% and 82%.

Submicroscopic Plasmodium falciparum parasitaemia in human immunodeficiency virus-infected adults living in Gabon (Central Africa)-a pilot study.

Background: Submicroscopic malaria infections contribute to malaria transmission. Describing the extent of the parasite reservoir is of importance. In people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the frequency of subpatent malaria infections is rarely reported.

Low prevalence of HCV infection with predominance of genotype 4 among HIV patients living in Libreville, Gabon.

Background: Gabon is an endemic area for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) and the risk of co-infection is high.

Method: Between November 2015 and April 2016, we conducted retrospective study on HCV infection among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA). A total of 491 PLHA were included in this study and tested for the presence of HCV infection.

Hepatitis B, C, and E infection among HIV-infected patients in Franceville, Gabon: retrospective cross-sectional study.

Access to antiretrovirals has increased the life expectancy of patients living with HIV. However, HIV-viral hepatitis coinfections in countries endemic for these infections make management more difficult. To determine the extent of these coinfections in Gabon, we investigated markers of hepatitis B, C, and E viruses in 762 adults infected with HIV-1 by ELISA.

sp. nov., a new bacterium detected from a Gabonese stool specimen.

Detection of new bacteria becomes a major part of culturomics studies coupled with taxonogenomics. Using these strategies, we report here the main characteristics of a new species, strain GM5. It is a bacterium isolated from a stool specimen from a 27-year-old man from Gabon.

Discovery of a new species within genus in a stool sample from Gabon: sp. nov.

The discovery of new bacteria from the human gut using a culturomics method is a novel field of increasing interest in microbiology. Here the main characteristics of strain Marseille P2639, a new Gram-negative bacterium isolated from the stool sample of a healthy 16-year-old Gabonese boy, are reported.

Description of Gabonibacter massiliensis gen. nov., sp. nov., a New Member of the Family Porphyromonadaceae Isolated from the Human Gut Microbiota.

The identification of human-associated bacteria is very important to control infectious diseases. In recent years, we diversified culture conditions in a strategy named culturomics, and isolated more than 100 new bacterial species and/or genera. Using this strategy, strain GM7, a strictly anaerobic gram-negative bacterium was recently isolated from a stool specimen of a healthy Gabonese patient.

Human papillomavirus genotypes distribution in cervical cancer cases in Gabon.

Background: Cervical cancer is a real public health problem in African countries. The relation between HPV and cervical cancer is well established. However, it is known that the distribution of HPV genotypes differ geographically and this may influence the effectiveness of the three available vaccines, which among other HPV genotypes targets the genotypes 16 and 18 that cause about 70 % of cervical cancers cases.

Co-circulation of Plasmodium and Bacterial DNAs in Blood of Febrile and Afebrile Children from Urban and Rural Areas in Gabon.

Malaria is considered to be the most common etiology of fever in sub-Saharan Africa while bacteremias exist but are under assessed. This study aimed to assess bacteremias and malaria in children from urban and rural areas in Gabon. DNA extracts from blood samples of 410 febrile and 60 afebrile children were analyzed using quantitative polymerase chain reaction.

Noncontiguous finished genome sequence and description of Gabonia massiliensis gen. nov., sp. nov.

Culturomics coupled with taxonogenomics is currently used to isolate and characterize new bacteria. Here we describe the features and complete genome sequence of Gabonia massiliensis strain GM3, an anaerobic Gram negative, non-spore-forming and catalase-positive bacillus isolated from a stool specimen of a healthy Gabonese male youth. Belonging to a new genus called Gabonia, it exhibits a genome of 4 261 752 bp including 37.

Noncontiguous finished genome sequence and description of Kallipyga gabonensis sp. nov.

Taxonogenomics coupled with culturomics promotes the isolation and characterization of bacteria. Kallipyga gabonensis sp. nov.

Human papillomavirus genotypes distribution among Gabonese women with normal cytology and cervical abnormalities.

Background: Cervical cancer is one of the most common tumors affecting women with a disproportionate mortality occurring in developing countries. Despite the high prevalence of cervical cancer and cervical neoplasia in Gabon, few studies have been performed to evaluate the prevalence and determinants of HPV infection in this country. The aim of this study was to determine the HPV prevalence and distribution in a population of Gabonese women with normal cytology and cervical abnormalities.

Mansonella, including a Potential New Species, as Common Parasites in Children in Gabon.

Background: Like other tropical African countries, Gabon is afflicted by many parasitic diseases, including filariases such as loiasis and mansonellosis. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of these two filarial diseases in febrile and afebrile children using quantitative real-time PCR and standard PCR assays coupled with sequencing.

Methodology/principal Findings: DNA from blood specimens of 1,418 Gabonese children (1,258 febrile and 160 afebrile) were analyzed.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR Performance of the ViroSeq® HIV-1 Genotyping System v2.0 in Central Africa.

Resistance genotypes in pol gene of HIV-1 were obtained by the ViroSeq(®) HIV-1 Genotyping System v2.0 (Celera Diagnostics, Alameda, CA, USA) in 138 of 145 (95%) antiretroviral treatment-experienced adults in virological failure living in Central Africa (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Gabon). HIV-1 group M exhibited broad genetic diversity.

The preliminary study of p53 codon 72 polymorphism and risk of cervical carcinoma in Gabonese women.

Cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in Africa and the first most common cancer in Gabonese women due to infection of high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV). However, other cofactors such as genetic factors also come into play. A common polymorphism of the p53 codon 72 in exon 4 with two alleles encoding arginine or proline is known at this locus.

Association of inconclusive sera for human immunodeficiency virus infection with malaria and Epstein-Barr virus infection in Central Africa.

Among 464 sera from adults in Cameroon, 56 (12.1%) gave inconclusive HIV serology. All were negative for HIV-1 DNA; 44.

Field evaluation in Chad of community usage of CD4 T lymphocyte counting by alternative single-platform flow cytometry.

Background: Field and community evaluation of the routine usage of CD4 T counting platforms is essential in resource-poor countries for efficient and cost-effective monitoring of HIV-infected adults and children attending health care centers.

Methods: We herein addressed the principal issues raised by the implementation of the single-platform, volumetric Auto40 flow cytometer (Apogee Flow Systems Ltd, Hemel Hempstead, UK) in 8 community HIV monitoring laboratories of different levels throughout Chad. This is a country with particularly difficult conditions, both in terms of climate and vast geographical territory, making the decentralization of the therapeutic management of HIV-infected patients challenging.

Single-platform, volumetric, CD45-assisted pan-leucogating flow cytometry for CD4 T lymphocytes monitoring of HIV infection according to the WHO recommendations for resource-constrained settings.

Background: Validation of new affordable CD4 T cell measurement technologies is crucial specifically in resource-poor countries for antiretroviral treatment eligibility and immunologic CD4 monitoring of HIV-infected patients.

Methods: The absolute and percentage CD4 T cell counts of 258 HIV-1-infected blood samples (182 adults and 76 children), living in N'Djamena, Chad, were performed by single-platform, volumetric, CD45-assisted pan-leucogating Auto40 flow cytometer (Apogee Flow Systems Ltd, Hemel Hempstead, UK) comparing to the FACSCalibur flow cytometer as a reference method.

Results: Absolute and percentage CD4 T cell counts obtained by Auto40 and FACSCalibur of 258 HIV-1-infected blood samples were highly correlated (r = 0.

The acute phase of Chikungunya virus infection in humans is associated with strong innate immunity and T CD8 cell activation.

Background: Rapidly spreading to new regions, including the islands of the Indian Ocean, Central Africa, and Europe, Chikungunya fever is becoming a major problem of public health. Unlike other members of the alphavirus genus, immune responses to Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) have been poorly investigated.

Methods: We conducted a large ex vivo multiplex study of 50 cytokine, chemokine, and growth factor plasma profiles in 69 acutely infected patients from the Gabonese outbreak of 2007.

Acute dengue virus 2 infection in Gabonese patients is associated with an early innate immune response, including strong interferon alpha production.

Background: Dengue is now a leading cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the tropics. We conducted the first ex vivo study of dengue fever (DF) in African patients infected during the first Gabonese dengue virus 2 (DENV-2) outbreak in 2007, in order to investigate cytokine production, including the antiviral cytokine IFN-α, reported to be a potent inhibitor of DENV replication in vitro.

Methods: Levels of 50 cytokines, chemokines and growth factors were measured in plasma from 36 patients with DENV-2 infection, and in uninfected controls, using Luminex multiplex technology.

Concurrent chikungunya and dengue virus infections during simultaneous outbreaks, Gabon, 2007.

An outbreak of febrile illness occurred in Gabon in 2007, with 20,000 suspected cases. Chikungunya or dengue-2 virus infections were identified in 321 patients; 8 patients had documented co-infections. Aedes albopictus was identified as the principal vector for the transmission of both viruses.

Allele frequencies and haplotypes of eight Y-short tandem repeats in Bantu population living in Central Africa.

Eight Y chromosome short tandem repeats (STR) loci (DYS19, DYS389I, DYS389II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393, DYS385I/II) were used to assess haplotype distribution in non-selected, unrelated Bantu males living in Central Africa [N. Mathias, M. Bayes, C.