Pathogens associated with acute diarrhea, and comorbidity with malaria among children under five years old in rural Burkina Faso.

Introduction: acute diarrhea in children under five years is a public health problem in developing countries and particularly in malaria-endemic areas where both diseases co-exist. The present study examined the etiology of childhood diarrhea and its comorbidity with malaria in a rural area of Burkina Faso.

Methods: conventional culture techniques, direct stools examination, and viruses´ detection by rapid tests were performed on the fresh stools and microscopy was used to diagnose malaria.

Assessment of missed opportunities for vaccination (MOV) in Burkina Faso using the World Health Organization's revised MOV strategy: Findings and strategic considerations to improve routine childhood immunization coverage.

Background: Despite the remarkable achievements of the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) in Burkina Faso, numerous challenges remain, including missed opportunities for vaccination (MOV) which occur when people visit a health facility with at least one vaccine due according to the national immunization schedule, are free of contraindications, and leave without receiving all due vaccine doses. In 2016, we used the revised World Health Organization's (WHO) MOV strategy to assess the extent of and reasons for MOV in Burkina Faso.

Methods: We purposively selected 27 primary health facilities (PHFs) from the eight health districts with the highest absolute numbers of children who missed the first dose of measles-rubella (MR1) in 2015.

Quality and reliability of vaccination documentation in the routine childhood immunization program in Burkina Faso: Results from a cross-sectional survey.

Introduction: Accurate and timely vaccination data are important to the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) to assess individual vaccination status and to monitor performance and vaccine coverage (VC). Since 2013, Burkina Faso introduced several new vaccines into the routine childhood immunization schedule. However, sustained efforts for a timely update and alignment of immunization home-based (HBRs) and health facility-based records (FBRs) with the evolving schedule were not implemented.

The impact of clinical research activities on communities in rural Africa: the development of the Clinical Research Unit of Nanoro (CRUN) in Burkina Faso.

Background: The opportunities for developing new drugs and vaccines for malaria control look brighter now than ten years ago. However, there are few places in sub-Saharan Africa with the necessary infrastructure and expertise to support such research in compliance to international standards of clinical research (ICH-GCP). The Clinical Research Unit of Nanoro (CRUN) was founded in 2008 to provide a much-needed GCP-compliant clinical trial platform for an imminent large-scale Phase 3 malaria vaccine trial.

First results of phase 3 trial of RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine in African children.

Background: An ongoing phase 3 study of the efficacy, safety, and immunogenicity of candidate malaria vaccine RTS,S/AS01 is being conducted in seven African countries.

Methods: From March 2009 through January 2011, we enrolled 15,460 children in two age categories--6 to 12 weeks of age and 5 to 17 months of age--for vaccination with either RTS,S/AS01 or a non-malaria comparator vaccine. The primary end point of the analysis was vaccine efficacy against clinical malaria during the 12 months after vaccination in the first 6000 children 5 to 17 months of age at enrollment who received all three doses of vaccine according to protocol.

Assessment of severe malaria in a multicenter, phase III, RTS, S/AS01 malaria candidate vaccine trial: case definition, standardization of data collection and patient care.

Background: An effective malaria vaccine, deployed in conjunction with other malaria interventions, is likely to substantially reduce the malaria burden. Efficacy against severe malaria will be a key driver for decisions on implementation. An initial study of an RTS, S vaccine candidate showed promising efficacy against severe malaria in children in Mozambique.