Immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 in sub-Saharan Africa and western Europe: a retrospective, population-based, cross-sectional study.

Background: SARS-CoV-2 has been associated with a higher proportion of asymptomatic infections and lower mortality in sub-Saharan Africa than high-income countries. However, there is currently a lack of data on cellular immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 in people living in Africa compared with people in high-income regions of the world. We aimed to assess geographical variation in peripheral and mucosal immune responses.

Safety and efficacy of praziquantel in pregnant women infected with Schistosoma haematobium in Lambaréné, Gabon - Clinical results from the randomized, single-blinded, controlled freeBILy-Gabon trial.

Objectives: Despite evidence of praziquantel's (PZQ) safety for treating schistosomiasis in pregnancy, many countries withhold treatment. Only two randomized controlled trials have investigated PZQ in pregnancy, none involving Schistosoma haematobium.

Methods: Pregnant women during the second trimester in Lambaréné (Gabon) were screened for S.

Focal spleen lesions in loiasis: A pilot study in Gabon.

Background: Infection with the filarial nematode Loa loa, endemic in Central and Western Africa, has been associated with increased morbidity and mortality. A number of reports described the presence of spleen nodules, originating from degenerating microfilariae, in humans and animals infected with L. loa.

Impact of helminth infections during pregnancy on maternal and newborn Vitamin D and on birth outcomes.

Poor birth outcomes in low- and middle income countries are associated with maternal vitamin D deficiency and chronic helminth infections. Here, we investigated whether maternal Schistosoma haematobium affects maternal or cord vitamin D status as well as birth outcomes. In a prospective cross-sectional study of pregnant women conducted in Lambaréné, Gabon, we diagnosed maternal parasitic infections in blood, urine and stool.

Molecular surveillance for dengue serotypes among the population living in Moyen-Ogooué province, Gabon; evidence of the presence of dengue serotype 1.

Background: Despite dengue virus (DENV) outbreak in Gabon a decade ago, less is known on the potential circulation of DENV serotypes in the country. Previous studies conducted in some areas of the country, are limited to hospital-based surveys which reported the presence of some cases of serotype 2 and 3 seven years ago and more recently the serotype 1. As further investigation, we extend the survey to the community of Moyen Ogooué region with the aim to assess the presence of the dengue virus serotypes, additionally to characterize chikungunya (CHIKV) infection and describe the symptomatology associated with infections.

Safety and immunogenicity of the co-administered Na-APR-1 and Na-GST-1 hookworm vaccines in school-aged children in Gabon: a randomised, controlled, observer-blind, phase 1, dose-escalation trial.

Background: A human hookworm vaccine is being developed to protect children against iron deficiency and anaemia associated with chronic infection with hookworms. Necator americanus aspartic protease-1 (Na-APR-1) and N americanus glutathione S-transferase-1 (Na-GST-1) are components of the blood digestion pathway critical to hookworm survival in the host. Recombinant Na-GST-1 and catalytically inactive Na-APR-1 (Na-APR-1[M74]) adsorbed to Alhydrogel were safe and immunogenic when delivered separately or co-administered to adults in phase 1 trials in non-endemic and endemic areas.

Validation of artificial intelligence-based digital microscopy for automated detection of Schistosoma haematobium eggs in urine in Gabon.

Introduction: Schistosomiasis is a significant public health concern, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. Conventional microscopy is the standard diagnostic method in resource-limited settings, but with limitations, such as the need for expert microscopists. An automated digital microscope with artificial intelligence (Schistoscope), offers a potential solution.

Clinical features, treatment outcomes and mortality risk of tuberculosis sepsis in HIV-negative patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis of case reports.

Purpose: Tuberculosis sepsis (TBS) is sepsis due to the Mycobacterium species causing tuberculosis (TB). It seems to be rare in HIV-negative patients and mainly individual case reports have been reported. This systematic review summarizes the epidemiology, clinical features, and treatment outcomes of TBS in HIV-negative patients.

Immunological profiles associated with distinct parasitemic states in volunteers undergoing malaria challenge in Gabon.

Controlled human malaria infection (CHMI) using cryopreserved non-attenuated Plasmodium falciparum sporozoites (PfSPZ) offers a unique opportunity to investigate naturally acquired immunity (NAI). By analyzing blood samples from 5 malaria-naïve European and 20 African adults with lifelong exposure to malaria, before, 5, and 11 days after direct venous inoculation (DVI) with Sanaria PfSPZ Challenge, we assessed the immunological patterns associated with control of microscopic and submicroscopic parasitemia. All (5/5) European individuals developed parasitemia as defined by thick blood smear (TBS), but 40% (8/20) of the African individuals controlled their parasitemia, and therefore remained thick blood smear-negative (TBS Africans).

Assessment of malaria transmission intensity and insecticide resistance mechanisms in three rural areas of the Moyen Ogooué Province of Gabon.

Background: Vector control is considered to be the most successful component of malaria prevention programs and a major contributor to the reduction of malaria incidence over the last two decades. However, the success of this strategy is threatened by the development of resistance to insecticides and behavioural adaptations of vectors. The aim of this study was to monitor malaria transmission and the distribution of insecticide resistance genes in Anopheles populations from three rural areas of the Moyen Ogooué Province of Gabon.

Pilot Malacology Surveys for the Intermediate Hosts of Schistosomiasis in Rural and Semi-Urban Areas of the Moyen-Ogooué Province, Gabon.

The objective of this pilot malacological survey was to identify the snail intermediate hosts for   in endemic rural and semi-urban areas of Gabon. Snails were collected, morphologically identified, and tested for infection by cercarial shedding. Released cercariae were morphologically identified using low-power light microscopy.

Funding patterns for biomedical research and infectious diseases burden in Gabon.

Background: Biomedical research plays an important role in improving health. There seems to exist a negative correlation between the amount of biomedical research funding and disease burden from all Sub-Saharan African countries. In this study, we describe funding patterns for biomedical research, explore the correlation between funding and burden of diseases, and quantify inequalities in funds distribution across diseases in Gabon over the period 2005-2015.

Exploratory analysis of the effect of helminth infection on the immunogenicity and efficacy of the asexual blood-stage malaria vaccine candidate GMZ2.

Background: Helminths can modulate the host immune response to Plasmodium falciparum and can therefore affect the risk of clinical malaria. We assessed here the effect of helminth infections on both the immunogenicity and efficacy of the GMZ2 malaria vaccine candidate, a recombinant protein consisting of conserved domains of GLURP and MSP3, two asexual blood-stage antigens of P. falciparum.

Association of low birth weight and polyparasitic infection during pregnancy in Lambaréné, Gabon.

Objective: To report the prevalence of polyparasitism during pregnancy in the Lambaréné region of Gabon and its association with newborn birth weight.

Method: Pregnant women in their third trimester were recruited in a prospective study between November 2011 and March 2015. Parasite infection status was assessed microscopically in stool, urine and blood samples.

Prospective, observational study to assess the performance of CAA measurement as a diagnostic tool for the detection of Schistosoma haematobium infections in pregnant women and their child in Lambaréné, Gabon: study protocol of the freeBILy clinical trial in Gabon.

Background: Schistosoma antigen detection in urine is a valuable diagnostic approach for schistosomiasis control programmes because of the higher sensitivity compared to parasitological methods and preferred sampling of urine over stool. Highly accurate diagnostics are important in low Schistosoma transmission areas. Pregnant women and young children could particularly benefit from antigen testing as praziquantel (PZQ) can be given to only confirmed Schistosoma cases.

Epidemiological, Mycobacteriological, and Clinical Characteristics of Smoking Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients, in Lambaréné, Gabon: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Gabon carries a high burden of both tuberculosis (TB) and smoking. This study examines the disease characteristics of smoking pulmonary TB patients in Lambaréné. We interviewed adult pulmonary TB patients in Lambaréné, between March 2016 and April 2019.

Impact of Helminth Infections during Pregnancy on Vaccine Immunogenicity in Gabonese Infants.

Helminth infections are common in sub-Saharan Africa. Besides direct clinical effects, a bias towards a T helper type 2 (Th2) cell immune response is observed. The consequences of parasite infection during pregnancy for the mother and particularly for the fetus and the newborn can be severe and may include impaired immune response during acute infection and vaccination.

Epidemiology of Schistosomiasis and Soil-Transmitted Helminth Coinfections among Schoolchildren Living in Lambaréné, Gabon.

Schistosomiasis is a parasitic infection highly prevalent in Central Africa where it is co-endemic with many other parasitic infections, including soil-transmitted helminths (STHs). For its optimal control, there is a need of descriptive epidemiological data for each endemic region. The objective of the present study was to determine the epidemiological situation around schistosomiasis in Lambaréné, Gabon.

Author Correction: Placental gene expression and antibody levels of mother-neonate pairs reveal an enhanced risk for inflammation in a helminth endemic country.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Monitoring of efficacy, tolerability and safety of artemether-lumefantrine and artesunate-amodiaquine for the treatment of uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Lambaréné, Gabon: an open-label clinical trial.

Background: Malaria remains a major public health problem, affecting mainly low-and middle-income countries. The management of this parasitic disease is challenged by ever increasing drug resistance. This study, investigated the therapeutic efficacy, tolerability and safety of artemether-lumefantrine (AL) and artesunate-amodiaquine (AS-AQ), used as first-line drugs to treat uncomplicated malaria in Lambaréné, Gabon.