Detection of the Malaria causing Plasmodium Parasite in Saliva from Infected Patients using Topoisomerase I Activity as a Biomarker.

Malaria is among the major threats to global health with the main burden of disease being in rural areas of developing countries where accurate diagnosis based on non-invasive samples is in high demand. We here present a novel molecular assay for detection of malaria parasites based on technology that may be adapted for low-resource settings. Moreover, we demonstrate the exploitation of this assay for detection of malaria in saliva.

Urogenital schistosomiasis during pregnancy is associated with low birth weight delivery: analysis of a prospective cohort of pregnant women and their offspring in Gabon.

An estimated 40 million women of childbearing age suffer from schistosomiasis. Animal models indicate a deleterious effect of maternal schistosomiasis on pregnancy outcomes. To date there is a lack of epidemiological evidence evaluating schistosomiasis-related morbidity in pregnancy.

Malaria in pregnancy in rural Gabon: a cross-sectional survey on the impact of seasonality in high-risk groups.

Background: Malaria remains one of the most important infectious diseases in pregnancy in sub-Saharan Africa. Whereas seasonal malaria chemoprevention is advocated as public health intervention for children in certain areas of highly seasonal malaria transmission, the impact of seasonality on malaria in pregnancy has not yet been investigated for stable, hyper-endemic transmission settings of Equatorial Africa. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of seasonality on the prevalence of malaria in pregnancy in Gabon.

Short report: premastication in rural Gabon--a cross-sectional survey.

Premastication-defined as pre-chewing of food for infants by their caregiver-is a common feeding practice in various societies. To date the impact of premastication on children's health including the potential for transmission of infectious diseases is not well understood. Since there are no epidemiologic data on premastication from resource poor regions in Central Africa, we investigated the epidemiology and demographic variables associated with premastication in Central Africa.

Efficacy of mefloquine intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy against Schistosoma haematobium infection in Gabon: a nested randomized controlled assessor-blinded clinical trial.

Background: Urogenital schistosomiasis is a major public health problem in sub-Saharan Africa, and routine programs for screening and treatment of pregnant women are not established. Mefloquine-currently evaluated as a potential alternative to sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine as intermittent preventive treatment against malaria in pregnancy (IPTp)-is known to exhibit activity against Schistosoma haematobium. In this study we evaluated the efficacy of mefloquine IPTp against S.